Overall, sea level is estimated to be rising by 1.8 millimeters a year worldwide because of the expansion of warming water and the added outwash from melting glaciers in Greenland, Alaska, tropical highlands and some areas of Antarctica.
Every millimeter of increased sea level corresponds to about 350 billion tons of water a year.
The growth in the East Antarctic icecap is enough to slow sea-level rise by a fraction of that — about 0.12 millimeter a year — the researchers reported.
All told, the fresh water locked up in the ice of East Antarctica is enough to raise the level of the oceans by about 196 feet, experts said. If it continues to grow as expected, the ice sheet could buffer some, but not all, of the effects of anticipated sea-level rise for much of the coming century, the researchers said.
"It is an effect that has been predicted as a likely result of climate change," said David Vaughan, an independent expert on the ice sheets at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England.
SOURCE:
As Climate Shifts, Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Growing
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BRACEWELL:
This is supportive of a truly global warming event. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillations may have impacted the Arctic, but this Antarctic build-up seems to be pretty definitive of a global phenomenon.
Remember when (a few years ago) 100km/hr winds were so uncommon that they were national news? Now they are hardly mentioned.
The most intriguing part of this all, is that we are just at the beginning of these “interesting times.” What lies ahead will give us much to discuss.
[Proofreader’s note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on November 14, 2007]
Note: As Climate Shifts, Ant...
Stumble It!
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"George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va
....It proves, conclusively, Global Warming has been going on, and off, and on again in cycles, for 1000s of years, and theres really nothing unusual going on, except maybe the smell, and the depleted uranium content. Yup..GW is the reason we even HAVE a Great Lakes, and rivers. STOP blaming your air-conditioner. STOP sucking into all this fear-marketing bullshit about buying polyester and other enviro-ecco-friendly sheep whistles. Stop thinking that 'If we all just stick together for the fight against Global Warming' we can alter a perfectly normal and repeatative cycle of millions of years. Stop making this another WAR! Its WAR that makes the air stink, not MY air-conditioner.
Start....thinking about replacing all those building foundations up noth built on Permafrost, by umm maybe starting irrigation of the lower Arctic. Start accepting reality. Global warming is normal part of a cycle that began 20,000 yrs ago. We only made is smellier, in every sence.
Hal,
Ottawa