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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Interview: Elizabeth Rush on her epic journey to Earth's 'doomsday glacier'
2024-08-24
Article at the link graced with gorgeous photos.
[BBC] In her latest book, The Quickening, the Pulitzer Prize finalist embarked on an epic odyssey to one of the most important – and least-explored – places in the world.

In 2019, 57 scientists and crew embarked on a 54-day journey to the farthest reaches of Antarctica. Their mission: Thwaites Glacier, a rapidly crumbling block of ice the size of Britain melting so fast it's known as the world's "doomsday glacier".

What kind of global effects would it have if sea levels were to rise 10ft or more?
Well, the speed with which it happens makes a tremendous difference. So, 10ft over two centuries is really different than 10ft over 40 years. The concern is really what do human beings do about it?

I'm a huge proponent of managed retreat, which is having a government entity intervene in low-lying areas and essentially purchase flood-prone homes for pre-flooding value, giving the folks who live there the opportunity to take that money and move up and in with it.

New York City has already done some managed retreat on Staten Island. The state intervened and they purchased and demolished over 500 homes on Staten Island. Eighty percent of those residents were able to take the money that they were given for their home and move elsewhere on Staten Island.
I’d wondered what happened to them after that dreadful storm. But were the people able to buy replacement houses, or was it just enough to allow them to rent a little apartment somewhere considerably less pleasant?
We sometimes think that managed retreat is like fracturing communities, and that's not necessarily how it plays out.

So, sea level rise is not catastrophic if we prepare for it – and that's a big if.
It’s also not catastrophic if there isn’t a significant rise, but that’s a different question.
Related:
Thwaites Glacier 08/22/2024 Why climate change models are wrong, according to bombshell study
Thwaites Glacier 12/15/2021 Ice shelf connected to Antarctic's doomsday glacier is CRACKING: Eastern part that is the size of Florida will likely break free within five years and trigger 25 INCH rise in sea levels
Thwaites Glacier 05/13/2021 How Melting Glaciers Have Accelerated A Shift In Earth's Axis <--- Golly - This Ain't Jolly

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