Quit the denial

This week’s news that the collapse of glaciers on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is imminent should checkmate climate-change deniers and their propaganda. But considering some of the consequences of the melting ice may take centuries to bear out, we’re not holding our breath.

Scientists have long worried that the retreating ice would pass a point of no return, and two recent studies conclude that scenario is upon us. Researchers at NASA and UC Irvine report in the journal Geophysical Research Letters that the melting glaciers in one region ultimately will result in sea-level rises of 4 feet.

Meanwhile, another study, this out of the University of Washington and published in the journal Science, found the Thwaites Glacier disappearing at a rate of several meters per year. It’s estimated to be nonexistent anywhere from 200 to 500 years from now. What’s most concerning, note the scientists, is that the glacier’s collapse likely will trigger further disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in amounts that would drive sea levels up by 10 to 13 feet—or higher.

It’s not like any of this comes as a shock to the scientific community, which has been warning the public about the catastrophic consequences of man-made greenhouse gases for decades. However, there is an urgency to the concerns since the glaciers are melting more rapidly than expected.

Why should we care? Well, for starters, it will devastate the environment as we know it, displacing millions of people. And it’s likely to occur within eight generations. It may be too late to take steps to stop the collapse of these glaciers, but it’s not too late to heed the warnings of other coal-mine canaries.