Comments on: June Pang https://habitablezone.com/2014/07/03/june-pang/ Thu, 16 Apr 2026 06:18:48 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2014/07/03/june-pang/#comment-31203 ER Thu, 03 Jul 2014 18:22:57 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=46048#comment-31203 On top of Greenland and Antarctica are thousands of feet of ice, and even if a few hundred feet of it melt away in just a few seasons, there's still plenty more of it underneath. Its white, and it will reflect sunlight back into space. Until the bare rock underneath is exposed to sunlight, the ice cap is doing its job and helping to regulate climate. The overall energy budget of the planet will not be severely affected. What really bothers me is sea ice. Even if its only inches thick, once it melts the sun's rays can penetrate deep into the sea, warming it up, making it harder to refreeze the following year, potentially initiating a positive feedback loop that no one can say when it will eventually stabilize--if ever. Continental ice melt will raise sea levels faster than sea ice melt, but I suspect the climatic effects of melting sea ice will be much quicker to affect us, and much more destructive in the short term. By the time our coastlines are threatened with severe flooding, we'll have many more climate-related issues to worry about than losing some waterfront real estate. Sea level rise is measurable today, but still fairly small. The changes to the jet stream, and rainfall patterns, are much more significant. Have you been watching the weather news lately? On top of Greenland and Antarctica are thousands of feet of ice, and even if a few hundred feet of it melt away in just a few seasons, there’s still plenty more of it underneath. Its white, and it will reflect sunlight back into space. Until the bare rock underneath is exposed to sunlight, the ice cap is doing its job and helping to regulate climate. The overall energy budget of the planet will not be severely affected.

What really bothers me is sea ice. Even if its only inches thick, once it melts the sun’s rays can penetrate deep into the sea, warming it up, making it harder to refreeze the following year, potentially initiating a positive feedback loop that no one can say when it will eventually stabilize–if ever.

Continental ice melt will raise sea levels faster than sea ice melt, but I suspect the climatic effects of melting sea ice will be much quicker to affect us, and much more destructive in the short term. By the time our coastlines are threatened with severe flooding, we’ll have many more climate-related issues to worry about than losing some waterfront real estate. Sea level rise is measurable today, but still fairly small. The changes to the jet stream, and rainfall patterns, are much more significant. Have you been watching the weather news lately?

]]> By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2014/07/03/june-pang/#comment-31202 mcfly Thu, 03 Jul 2014 17:52:57 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=46048#comment-31202 <a href="http://www.climate.org/topics/sea-level/" rel="nofollow">Estimates put the net loss of ice [from the Greenland Ice Sheet] at anywhere between 82 and 224 cubic kilometers per year</a> And that's just the Greenland Ice Sheet. Every cubic kilometer of water weighs in at about one billion tonnes. It's not like we're talking about a trickle. And some people say "well, there's *lots* more ice there," like we should be comforted by that. Estimates put the net loss of ice [from the Greenland Ice Sheet] at anywhere between 82 and 224 cubic kilometers per year

And that’s just the Greenland Ice Sheet. Every cubic kilometer of water weighs in at about one billion tonnes. It’s not like we’re talking about a trickle. And some people say “well, there’s *lots* more ice there,” like we should be comforted by that.

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