Climate Letter #1352

A surprising amount of melting on the underside of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier.  A hollowed-out area has been discovered where the melting has gone far beyond all expectations:  “It’s big enough to have contained 14 billion tons of ice, and most of that ice melted over the last three years.”  Thwaites has been getting an exceptional amount of attention because it holds the key barrier to a much larger region of connected glaciers.  “About the size of Florida, Thwaites Glacier is currently responsible for approximately 4 percent of global sea level rise. It holds enough ice to raise the world ocean a little over 2 feet (65 centimeters) and backstops neighboring glaciers that would raise sea levels an additional 8 feet (2.4 meters) if all the ice were lost.”  Some scientists think the process is already unstoppable, which is why there is such an anxious search for proof at this time.  https://phys.org/news/2019-01-huge-cavity-antarctic-glacier-rapid.htm

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–Journalist Jeff Goodell is on his way to Antarctica attached to a scientific expedition that will initiate a new five-year research program that plans to get a better handle on the problem posed by Thwaites and West Antarctica as a whole.  He plans to do a series of articles about it for Rolling Stone magazine, with this being the first.  He believes there is no bigger problem for climate science to be concerned about at this particular time.
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A new video featuring Jennifer Francis offers a quick explanation and images of the “polar vortex” from P(BS Newshour.  There are really two vortexes, one high and one low, and they get confused.  Usually they go their separate ways, but on occasion there is an interaction, causing still another problem for scientists to work on in hopes of gaining a deeper understanding.  The following post, which was written by Dr. Francis for EarthSky Voices, digs into some of the details.
–Here is the written story.  It is still not clear to me how these high-level wind vortex fragments are able to drag bitter cold air from the pole along the surface as they move, somehow pushing the lower jet stream out of the way as they do so.  Oh well—there is more to be learned.
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What life is like in a small city on the northern Minnesota border when the vortex hits (The Guardian).  Not bad at all, for those who are used to it.
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Ethiopia was once covered with lush, natural forests (Nature).  The rise of subsistence agriculture has reduced them to just 5%, in the form of 35,000 small oases that are fertile and full of wildlife, most having a church in the center.  Efforts are being made that favor preservation and in places expansion.  The story’s photography is truly remarkable, allowing one to see visible signs for hope if further effects of climate change can be forestalled.
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From Yale 360. the third in its series about the relentless rise of water shortages in the Colorado River basin, induced by global warming.  There are plenty of helpful recommendations to choose from, most of which involve some kind of deep change in existing agricultural practices.
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Australia broke all sorts of records for solar energy installations in 2018.  That’s in spite of a national government that made no effort to be helpful and often tried to get in the way.
Carl

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