The big melt and great dildo extinction… Evening Open Thread

Good Evening

Hey there, how’s everyone doing today? Tonight two stories brought to you by global warming and humans hunting animals to extinction.

First, this very damn interesting article and interactive map that Juan Cole wrote about on his blog:  Bye, Bye Florida: Scientists find the last time it was this hot, Seas rose 65 feet | Informed Comment

A study published in Nature Geoscience by researchers, from Imperial College London and their academic partners shows that 5-3 million years ago in the Pliocene, the last time it was as hot as it is going to be in this century, antarctic ice shelf melting caused a sea level rise of as much as 20 meters (65 feet).

At 65 feet sea level rise, we basically lose Louisiana and most of Florida, according to this useful intractive map:

Yup, most of Florida is in the drink, and Dak…New Orleans is gone too.

Here are the original links to the articles Cole links to…Ancient ice melt unearthed in Antarctic mud

Global warming five million years ago may have caused parts of Antarctica’s large ice sheets to melt and sea levels to rise by approximately 20 metres, scientists report today in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The researchers, from Imperial College London, and their academic partners studied mud samples to learn about ancient melting of the East Antarctic ice sheet. They discovered that melting took place repeatedly between five and three million years ago, during a geological period called Pliocene Epoch, which may have caused sea levels to rise approximately ten metres.

Scientists have previously known that the ice sheets of West Antarctica and Greenland partially melted around the same time. The team say that this may have caused sea levels to rise by a total of 20 metres.

[…]
Dr Tina Van De Flierdt, co-author from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says: “The Pliocene Epoch had temperatures that were two or three degrees higher than today and similar atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to today. Our study underlines that these conditions have led to a large loss of ice and significant rises in global sea level in the past. Scientists predict that global temperatures of a similar level may be reached by the end of this century, so it is very important for us to understand what the possible consequences might be.”
[…]

Analysing the mud revealed a chemical fingerprint that enabled the team to trace where it came from on the continent. They discovered that the mud originated from rocks that are currently hidden under the ice sheet. The only way that significant amounts of this mud could have been deposited as sediment in the sea would be if the ice sheet had retreated inland and eroded these rocks, say the team.

The academics suggest that the melting of the ice sheet may have been caused in part by the fact that some of it rests in basins below sea level. This puts the ice in direct contact with seawater and when the ocean warms, as it did during the Pliocene, the ice sheet becomes vulnerable to melting.

Carys Cook, co-author and research postgraduate from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial, adds: “Scientists previously considered the East Antarctic ice sheet to be more stable than the much smaller ice sheets in West Antarctica and Greenland, even though very few studies of East Antarctic ice sheet have been carried out. Our work now shows that the East Antarctic ice sheet has been much more sensitive to climate change in the past than previously realised. This finding is important for our understanding of what may happen to the Earth if we do not tackle the effects of climate change.”

The next step will see the team analysing sediment samples to determine how quickly the East Antarctic ice sheet melted during the Pliocene. This information could be useful in the future for predicting how quickly the ice sheet could melt as a result of global warming.

And the interactive map, I have gone and saved a screen shot of the Northeastern US and California Coast: Global Sea Level Rise Map – Global Warming & Climate Change Impact

The map below can be used to show which areas would be under water if sea level rises a specific amount. You can select a value of sea level rise using the drop down box in the upper left corner of the map. Although this map is not a carefully surveyed and extremely accurate presentation, it does provide a visually striking view of what geographic areas might be flooded if global climate change continues unabated.

Note: Some inland depressions, such as the Caspian Sea, show inundation on the map but would not be flooded. This is because the mapping algorithm is based upon elevation and can not distinguish areas that are separated from the oceans by a ridge or other high area. Be sure that you trace a connection with the ocean before assuming the area would be flooded.

As you can see…San Francisco Bay engulfs Sacramento…the state of Delaware is no longer above water and the major cities in the Northeast are shit out of luck too.

But…these cities are not the only things heading for extinction…Bad News: CNN Host Reports Humans Have ‘Hunted The Dildo Into Extinction’ | Mediaite

CNN International host Jonathan Mann undermined the point he was trying to make about climate change a bit when he offered up this particular example of previous “man-made extinctions”: “We hunted the dildo into extinction.”

Speaking to a guest about a study that says many animal species won’t have time to adapt to a rapidly warming planet, Mann said, “Now extinctions, I don’t have to tell you, have been a part of the history of the world for millennia. And man-made extinctions have even happened before.”

“I guess we hunted the dildo into extinction,” he let slip, before slowly realizing his mistake. “Um, but, the Dodo, rather, forgive me, I’m having trouble with my words today.”

The Dodo bird species is believed to have perished for good sometime in the 17th century, but, for now at least, the dildo is alive and well.

Funny eh?

Go to the link up top so you can see the video clip of the dildo slip, which David Letterman used in his show last night, “CNN…most trusted name in news” indeed.

This is an open thread.