NATURAL EVENTS
Antarctica alert, the doomsday glacier is melting too fast
The melting of glaciers is one of the greatest dangers facing our world in the near future. Indeed, the pouring of immense amounts of fresh water into the ocean, combined with rising ocean levels, could lead to devastating consequences for our world.
Two studies, published in Nature and conducted by scientists of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Cornell University, used the Icefin robot to map the submerged part of Thwaites Glacier, the largest shelf in West Antarctica and called "The doomsday Glacier," with an area of 150 times Rome.
The data collected, unfortunately, do not reveal anything good. In fact, this huge glacier is reportedly melting much faster than expected, and the reason is not high air temperatures.
The Glacier Thwaites
Speaking of the melting of the glacier Thwaites, two groups of scientists used the robotic vehicle Icefin to observe the submerged part of the glacier and beyond. The results obtained are not at all encouraging: inside the glacier crevasses, salt water and warm water creep in and speed up the melting. These, in summary, are the conclusions of the research.
Felton Davis – Flickr.com
Studies
These two new studies on the melting glacier Thwaites, which were published in the journal Nature, were conducted by scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Cornell University. The team, led by Peter Davis and Britney Schmidt, as part of the project MELT, which has the United Kingdom and the United States collaborating in the consortium International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. The ice was sounded with the help of the robot Icefin.
Stuart Rankin – Flickr.com
The glacier's two big problems
The first problem the glacier is facing is global warming, but not the increase in atmospheric temperature, but that of water. In fact, it appears that the ice's waterline has receded by as much as 16 km in the past 30 years, and thus a much larger part of the surface is now exposed to warm salt water. In addition, there is the phenomenon called Tidal pumping: the ice, rising as the tide rises, allows more water to flow beneath it.
James Yungel - Wikipedia.org
Smooth parts and jagged parts dissolve differently
In areas where the ice is flat and smooth, cold water forms a kind of blanket, protecting it from the action of salt water and salt. Where the surfaces are jagged, however, there are more vertical surfaces where warm water can attack the ice, including through lateral incursions.
Exponential deterioration, and in better than expected condition
One of the worst findings relates to temperatures. In fact, Britney Schmidt, a planetologist and Earth scientist at the Cornell University, explains how the terrible deterioration of Thwaites is occurring under milder conditions than previously estimated by models. The problem then is quite obvious: less climate change is needed to have these effects. If conditions deteriorate further, therefore, the melting of the Doomsday Glacier will be faster than previously estimated.
What is at risk if the Glacier melts Thwaites
Studies have also speculated, in concrete terms, what would happen if this huge ice mass melted: global sea levels could rise by more than 30 cm. Collapsing, in addition, there would be a risk that this glacier would also drag glaciers in the surrounding area with it, adding an additional three meters to the rise of the seas. It goes without saying that this would be much more than a catastrophe.
From the Road
18/06/2024
Prisons are one of the sad institutions on which, unfortunately, modern society is based. Removing individuals who are dangerous to the community, and enclosing them all together in one place for the purpose of surveillance and re-education, is one of the ways our ancestors found to ensure the safety of the population.
They remain places, albeit atrocious, that are nonetheless fascinating because of the peculiarity of their rules, the micro-world they inhabit, and also because of the many fictional works, films, books and many others, that have prisons as their main setting.
But which are the most famous prisons in the world? Among the largest, the most luxurious and the bloodiest, one can really find all possible and imaginable types.
Natural Events
08/06/2024
A meteorite crater (also called astroblem, impact crater or basin) is a circular-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite, asteroid, and in general a celestial body, on the surface of a planet.
Evidence of many of these craters, which have impacted our planet over geological eras, can be found on planet Earth. One of the most famous, for example, is the one believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs (called the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction).
Some of these craters can be found underground today, or at least the traces they left behind. Others have become beautiful lakes, others are still desolate and remote places today. But which are the largest in the world by diameter?
Home page
07/06/2024
We are all realising that our way of life, the one our parents, who were born and raised especially after the Second World War, taught us, is no longer sustainable. There are too many of us in this world now, and nature can no longer provide us with everything we need.
Capitalism, or consumerism for short, is forcing us to submit to environmentally worn-out logics that would not be sustainable even in the long run, but are even less so in the short time we have left before everything falls apart. Our way of life must change radically if we are to allow the survival of mankind. For example, the introduction of the law in Europe allowing the sale of insect meal aims at exactly that, at sustainability.
Therefore, it is necessary for all of us, while there is still time, to change certain behaviours to help the world. Here, then, are some tips for leading a greener and more sustainable life.
From the Road
06/06/2024
According to theMain Streets Across the World 2022report, which analyzes the main shopping areas of 92 cities around the world, New York Fifth Avenue is the most expensive route in the world followed by Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui. Post pandemic, the most expensive street in Hong Kong loses the top of the ranking and records the worst drop ever, -41%.
In detail, with an average annual fee of 14,547 euros per square meter, the Via Montenapoleone in Milan ranks ahead of New Bond Street in London and Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris, respectively in fourth and fifth place in the global ranking of the most expensive streets in the world.
Via Montenapoleone in Milan, has earned the title of the most expensive shopping street in Europe and the third overall worldwide, with a jump of two positions compared to the last research of 2019.
