More bad news about glaciers — and therefore sea levels
from Grist's Gristmill blog:
Summer Rupper, a geologist at Brigham Young University, traveled to Bhutan. Her goal in visiting the Himalayan nation in southern Asia was to predict how its glaciers were likely to respond to various climate scenarios over the coming decades. The answer: No matter what, the glaciers are likely to shrink substantially.
Rupper’s most conservative findings indicate that even if climate remained steady, almost 10 percent of Bhutan’s glaciers would vanish within the next few decades. What’s more, the amount of melt water coming off these glaciers could drop by 30 percent. …
In fact, snowfall rates in Bhutan would need to almost double to avoid glacier retreat, but it’s not a likely scenario because warmer temperatures lead to rainfall instead of snow. If glaciers continue to lose more water than they gain, the combination of more rain and more glacial melt will increase the probability of flooding — which can be devastating to neighboring villages.
Note the point in that first paragraph: “even if climate remained steady.” In other words, even if the climate didn’t get any warmer, which is almost certainly not going to be the case.
Although Bhutan’s glaciers are massive and how they react to climate change will affect those downstream from the nation — read: the populous nation of Bangladesh — melt is a problem for glaciers the world over. And, by extension, for everyone who lives anywhere near the ocean. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/more-bad-news-about-glaciers-and-therefore-sea-levels/
= new reply since forum marked as read
3 or 4 billion people.
(IPCC records actually show that we've largely stayed on track for the average predicted increases, and not quite as warm as Hansen predicted back in '88) as more like some of the knock-on effects are coming on quicker than even the scientists predicted, particularly the ice melt in the Arctic.
But instead, once the first warnings were issued, and deliberately "don't want to be too alarmist," oil industry PR kicked into overdrive on so many levels-- starting the "there is lots of doubt" talking points, encouraging more consumption of oil with giant hummers and "Morning in America" thinking-- we're great! we don't have to cut back! -- and all kinds of delay.
Definitely true, and it didn't help that dishonest hacks like Christopher Hooker and others kept claiming that even moderate action on climate change would destroy the world economy(which was and still is blatantly untrue, but I don't expect them to give a fuck anyhow), and many other pieces of bullshit they've been spewing of course.
Thank goodness more people are getting out there to protest and push for change now.
Very true.
Images similar to one you post that only re-enforces that climate change is fact
or
that nearly half of the US population either; down right out doesn't believe climate change is real and will often turn the debate into some weird rant about al gore, or they refuse to believe humans have had an impact on climate change.
Mind you these same people believe baby jesus played with dinosaurs, and most recently they believed that not only would romney make a good president but that he would win in a landslide. There track record isn't looking so great - must be a scary time for them these days. 
It's very sad that there are people who choose to believe that methane gas is the cause of climate change vs. believing that there are actionable causes stemming from monied interests. On election morning while waiting in line, a stranger and I talked about the weather--in particular Sandy's devastation. He said it was a shame that climate change was only going to get worse and then said that he would be long gone by the time it became intolerable. I agreed and thought I probably will be gone as well. But, in the meantime, I will watch as Al Gore's inconvenient truth becomes an inconvenient reality.
