Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Antarctic Ice Sheet Inexplicably Turns Red

According to a new study, old studies are old.

A rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in the area from melting into the sea. The most concerning upshot of this phenomenon is its potential contribution to a rise in sea levels of up to 13 feet, which could result in climate refugees moving inland and seeking asylum at Al Gore’s $9,000,000 ocean-view villa in the hills of Montecito, California.

Beige good, red bad.

Scientists aren’t sure exactly how long it could take for the entire western Antarctic ice sheet to disappear and produce this rise in sea levels, but you might want to wait a while before you corner the market on hip waders, because it is still centuries off — potentially up to 1,000 years away. Oops, the Guardian forgot to bury that little tidbit deeper than the third paragraph. It would be highly improbable that any naturally occurring climate trend could come into play to counter this over a period of centuries.  

The only thing that is for certain is that it is primarily caused by the Koch brothers. And we can all rest easier knowing that it is definitely not the result of camel flatulence.

This newly-released graphic reveals the projected pattern of Antarctic warming that is expected to last at least through the current election cycle:

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