Antarctica's melting ice shelves have unleashed 7.5 TRILLION tonnes of water into the oceans since 1997, study finds
Here we go again! La de da de da! Once more there is absolutely no mention of the subsurface vulcanism that is common at both poles. In Antarctica it is primarily Western Antactica where the volcanoes are. And if you had a volcano under your bottom you would melt too.
You don't need to read the confused journalism excerpted below. The graph is pretty clear that it is primarily West Antarctica where the ice loss has occurred. The report emphasizes ice loss from the Ronne, Getz and Ross ice-shelves. All are in Western Antarctica, with the biggest loss being at the Getz, which is the most Westerly of the three.
Sorry boys! The melting is due to random fluctuations in volcanic activity, not global warming
Analyzing over 100,000 satellite radar images, researchers from the University of Leeds discovered a steady erosion of the continent's ice sheets, with over 40 per shrinking between 1997 and 2021.
While some ice sheets did grow in size during this time, the data revealed that a third have now lost more than 30 per cent of their initial mass - unleashing vast quantities of freshwater in the process.
Worryingly, scientists say this vast release of fresh water could threaten to destabilise ocean currents and contribute to global sea level rise.
What's more, human-induced climate change means that ice melt will continue to happen faster in the future, the experts warn....
While the Western side is exposed to warm waters which erode the ice shelves from below, East Antarctica is protected by a band of colder water close to the shore.
Overall, 59 trillion tonnes of water have been added to the continent's ice shelves since 1975. However, this was offset by the 67 trillion tonnes that were lost.
The biggest losses took place at the Getz Ice Shelf, which lost 1.9 trillion tonnes of water.
For perspective, one trillion tones of ice would make a cube more than six miles (10 km) in every direction - more than half a mile taller than Mt Everest!
Of this loss, 95 per cent was caused by melting and five per cent by 'calving', where large chunks of ice break off into the ocean.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Antarctica, the Amery Ice Shelf gained 1.2 trillion tonnes of ice due to the colder waters surrounding it.
Dr Benjamin Davison, who led the study, says this evidence points to a distinct change in the Antarctic ice.
'We expected most ice shelves to go through cycles of rapid, but short-lived shrinking, then to regrow slowly,' Dr Davidson said.
'Instead, we see that almost half of them are shrinking with no sign of recovery.'
Dr Davidson and his colleagues believe that this change has been brought about by human-induced global warming.
If the increased rate of melting were due to natural factors such as a variation in climate patterns, there would have also been evidence of ice regrowth in the typically warmer west.
The Getz Ice Shelf, where the worst of the ice melt has occurred, shed 1.9 trillion tonnes of water into the southern ocean over 25 years
Recent research revealed that the ice surrounding Antarctica, known as the sea ice extent, was at a historic low in September measuring less than 6.5 million square miles (17 million sq km), according to the US's National Snow and Ice Data Center.
While this may seem vast it is, in fact, 580,000 square miles (1.5 million sq km) less than average for September - an area equivalent to five times the size of the British Isles.
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Critics Assail Biden’s ‘War on American Energy’ on National Energy Appreciation Day
Sen. Cynthia Lummis sponsored a resolution establishing the first-ever National Energy Appreciation Day, and the Wyoming Republican had much to say about American energy at a panel discussion marking the occasion Wednesday.
“As [the Biden] administration continues to put our domestic energy producers on the back burner with its war on American energy, it is essential that we pause to recognize and celebrate their invaluable contributions to our daily lives that we so often take for granted,” Lummis explained in a press statement.
National Energy Appreciation Day is slated for the first Wednesday in October, which is observed as National Energy Awareness Month in the U.S.
Mandy Gunasekara, director of the Center for Energy and Conservation at the Independent Women’s Forum, had the idea for Wednesday’s panel discussion, dubbed “American Energy for Prosperity” and held at The Heritage Foundation in Washington. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
“Let’s take some time to recognize the fact that we flipped the switch,” Gunasekara said. “The lights, generally speaking, come on.”
The country’s front-line energy workers are the backbone of American energy, she said, noting they power our economy, working “through the night to ensure that there are no disruptions.”
“It is appropriate that we celebrate our front-line energy workers, acknowledge their importance in our economy, and do this annually,” said Lummis, whose state is rich in energy supplies. “Everyone who’s involved in the energy business is keeping America strong. It is a national security issue. It is an American independence issue. It’s a freedom issue.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has been striving to eliminate the fossil-fuel industry in the United States in the name of mitigating climate change. But even “if we got rid of all the fossil fuels in the United States, this would only make a difference of two-tenths of one degree Celsius by the year 2100,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at The Heritage Foundation.
“Over the past 15 years, the United States’ emissions of carbon have gone down by 1,000 million metric tons because of our use of clean natural gas,” she said.
Meanwhile, “China’s emissions have gone up by 5,000 million metric tons [over the past 15 years],” Furchtgott-Roth said, “because they are making the solar panels and the wind turbines with coal-fired power plants.” And the Biden administration’s energy policies give more economic power to China.
Biden’s first executive order revoked the presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL pipeline, halting construction of the natural gas infrastructure. The Keystone XL pipeline was intended to supply U.S. natural gas to markets across North America.
Biden’s determination to shut down American energy production has had ripple effects on the geopolitical stage. “We have China helping support Russia in their war against Ukraine,” Lummis said. “We are buying Chinese technology for wind and solar infrastructure. We buy their batteries, their wind technology, their solar technology. Then they take our money and join with Russia to fight our friends [in Ukraine].”
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Global fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions to rise through 2050, EIA projects
"Energy trade of fossil fuels will continue to evolve as emerging economies demand more energy and the world continues to adapt to current geopolitical events."
In our International Energy Outlook 2023 (IEO2023), we project that global energy-related CO2 emissions will increase by 2050 in a number of IEO2023 cases as global population growth and higher living standards push growth in energy consumption beyond advances in energy efficiency.
In all IEO2023 cases, we expect global primary energy consumption to increase through 2050. Our expectations of global population growth, increased regional manufacturing, and higher living standards indicate that global energy consumption will grow faster than advances in energy efficiency. Non-fossil fuel-based resources, including nuclear and renewables, produce more energy through 2050, but in most of the IEO2023 cases we examined, that growth is not sufficient to reduce global energy-related CO2 emissions under current laws and regulations.
In our IEO2023, we explore long-term world energy trends and present an outlook for energy markets through 2050. We use different scenarios, called cases, to understand how varying assumptions about technological advancement and economic growth affect energy trends. The IEO2023 Reference case—which serves as a baseline, or benchmark—and six side cases consider only the laws and regulations adopted through March 2023. The six side cases in IEO2023 explore differing assumptions of economic growth, crude oil prices, and technology costs.
U.S. projections in IEO2023 are the published projections in the Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023), which assumed that U.S. laws and regulations as of November 2022 remain unchanged.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=60642&mc_cid=b8e6cdffc5&mc_eid=cc88839e92
***********************************************Renewables funds see record outflows as rising rates, costs hit shares
Investors ditched renewable energy funds at the fastest rate on record in the three months to end-September as cleaner energy shares took a beating from higher interest rates and soaring material costs, which are squeezing profit margins.
Renewable energy funds globally suffered a net outflow of US$1.4-billion in the July-September quarter, the biggest ever quarterly outflow, according to LSEG Lipper data.
However, the outflows only partially reversed the trend for the first half of 2023 when investors added a net US$3.36-billion, the data showed.
The sector’s total assets under management now stand at US$65.4-billion, a 23-per-cent decline from end-June, according to the data.
Investors have been exiting traditional energy funds, too, but the rate has slowed – net outflows reached US$438-million in the last quarter compared with US$3.32-billion in the previous three months.
Renewable energy firms with high growth potential are vulnerable to rising interest rates as they eat into the value of future cash flows.
Companies including Denmark’s Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind farm developer, and U.S. panel maker First Solar have seen sharp share price falls in recent months.
“Renewable energy funds have faced weakened sentiment due to company performances in recent quarters and a shift in investor attention this year toward other themes like AI and U.S. Infrastructure,” said Global X research analyst Madeline Ruid.
Long-permitting timelines, project delays, high rates and elevated material costs – particularly for wind and solar power – have weighed on firms, Ms. Ruid said.
The iShares Global Clean Energy Exchange Traded Fund lost a net US$278.4-million in the last quarter, the data showed. Investors pulled a net US$218.3-million and US$199.1-million from the Hallbar Energi and iShares Global Clean Energy UCITS ETF USD (Dist), respectively.
Demand for exposure to renewable energy had been a major driver of cash flowing into climate-related funds in recent years.
However, “climate transition” funds – which invest in companies that want to decarbonize faster – and “climate solutions” funds are the biggest sectors “as investors look for investment opportunities beyond the renewable energy sector," data provider Morningstar said in a recent report.
The S&P Global Clean Energy Index, comprised of major solar and wind power companies and other renewables-related businesses, has lost 30 per cent in 2023, with nearly all of the decline since July.
By contrast, the oil and gas-heavy S&P 500 Energy Index is up slightly this year.
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My other blogs. Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Jim Hansen and his twin
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