The Warming Earth

[Oscar Wilde]

Scientists discovered 55 lakes in Eastern Antarctica that shouldn't have been there

Curious, why is Antarctica such a high secure area? The claims are stated but it is unlikely there is an opportunity for independent confirmation. I recall one of our members working down there ....

O.W.

[TonyM]

Curious, why is Antarctica such a high secure area? The claims are stated but it is unlikely there is an opportunity for independent confirmation. I recall one of our members working down there ....

O.W.

Most bases are in West Antarctica, due south from Chile. This new discovery was on the opposite side of the continent. Beyond that it is hard to get there and a tough place to work.

There will certainly be additional info coming pretty quickly, since this was a high profile discovery

[Oscar Wilde]

.... since this was a high profile discovery

My point is, you and I cain't charter a boat to deliver us on shore as we'd be intercepted well out to sea. So no first hand report by us to our fellow Tree dwellers that such is in fact the case.

Do ya 'spose all that military activity down there is of some impact on that environment?

Don't ya find it ... peculiar, that the folks soundin the alarm are the ones most guilty of the offending actions and for the foreseeable future will continue to do so but it is wee peasant peepses that will bear whatever burden the offenders dertimine the solution to be?

O.W.

[TonyM]

My point is, you and I cain't charter a boat to deliver us on shore as we'd be intercepted well out to sea. So no first hand report by us to our fellow Tree dwellers that such is in fact the case.

Do ya 'spose all that military activity down there is of some impact on that environment?

Don't ya find it ... peculiar, that the folks soundin the alarm are the ones most guilty of the offending actions and for the foreseeable future will continue to do so but it is wee peasant peepses that will bear whatever burden the offenders dertimine the solution to be?

O.W.

By treaty, Antarctica is demilitarized. Also it is a really big place -- area of 14 million km² (280,000 km² ice-free, 13.72 million km² ice covered). I doubt that anyone patrols the eastern side, but it is pretty hard to get there.

Here are a couple of articles that might interest you --

http://www.nature.com/news/lakes-und...garden-1.15729

http://www.livescience.com/21677-antarctica-facts.html

[TonyM]

AMOC Amok: Global Warming Bad News

You already know abut the North American Conveyor current. Briefly:
The major ocean currents happen because the equatorial ocean is warmer,
and since water (unlike land) can move (though not as fast as air) the
dissipation of this heat across the surface of the Earth results in warm
water moving, at the surface, north or south away from the Equator,
where it loses its heat and finds it way back to the equatorial regions,
usually as deeper, cooler water.

Conveniently, this process also involves increasing the salinity of
the water far from the equator, as evaporating water becomes saltier.
This saltier water is therefore both cold and dense, so it sinks,
drawing the warm surface water into the evaporation regions. Something
like this is happening at a small scale around all the oceans, but the
density driven conveyor is the biggest driver of ocean currents, most
significant with respect to weather, and most famous, in the North
Atlantic.

With global warming, the fresh water budget and distribution in the
northern latitudes, in the Atlantic, changes, with more fresh water
coming out of the Arctic and off of Greenland. This freshens up the
hypersaline engine of the Atlantic Conveyor, also known as the Atlantic
Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). When that engine slows or
shuts down, the currents in the entire North Atlantic, and beyond,
change

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/20...ming-bad-news/

[TonyM]

Beach at Univ of California, Santa Barbara, covered by a record high tide this morning --

[TonyM]

Trump plans to ban the EPA from funding science, report says


Donald Trump plans to ban the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) from funding science, and "overhaul" its use of science
from outside groups, according to a Monday report published in Axios.


http://www.businessinsider.com/repor...cience-axios-1

[TonyM]

West Antarctic Ice Shelf Breaking Up from the Inside Out

Researchers trace the origin of a 2015 iceberg to a crack that formed deep beneath the ice.

https://eos.org/research-spotlights/...the-inside-out

[breezy]