10 thoughts on “Ice Loss, Sea Level Rise – Means We Are Running Out of Time”
So, if I understand correctly, a year is now a second shorter, meaning the earth is spinning faster, not slower. So, apparently loss of ice at the poles, I would surmise, is allowing the earth to lose it’s equatorial bulge, as the earth’s crust rises at the poles, so that, like the spinning ice skater pulling her arms in, the planet spins faster. Sort of the opposite of what Dr. Mann said. Someone clarify this for me, please.
One of the recent clips about lake effect precipitation included the expert misspeaking by describing it as bringing warmer air over cold water, when it is in fact the cold air pulling the vapor off warm lakes or bays and dumping it when it passes over land. It’s a scientifical fact that people’s ability to speak properly goes down 2.4464% when they are seated in front of a camera.
It’s the water flowing to the equator which is slowing the Earth down. The crust will take thousands of years to rebound there.
The second we use daily is defined as a fraction of the Earth spin time, but is actually measured by Atomic clocks,
If the Earth is spinning slower, you need fewer seconds as measured by the atomic clocks to measure out a day……Sorry, i got confused there again!:)
No, the Earth is rotating more slowly, not fastet. Ice frozen at the poles (on the “skater’s axis”) is melting and gradually flowing to the equator-ish, making the “skater’s arms” stick farther out, slowing down the spin. Because the planet is spinning (minuscul-y) more slower, we will need to add in a leap second less often or, in a sense, losing it. Hope that’s clear; leap-anythings are a little confusing. 🙂
As others have already mentioned here, the rising or falling of crust has virtually no effect on Earth’s spin slowing down. Sticking with the ice skater analogy, a lot of polar ice is similar to the skater’s arms being held in. When polar ice melts, “centrifugal effects” along with “gravitational forces mostly from the Sun an moon” will draw the just melted water to the equator (a lot like the skater extending her arms). BTW, the rising-falling of Earths crust does affect life on the Great Lakes. The Bruce Peninsula in Ontario is rising while the southern tip of Lake Michigan is falling. Water still flows down hill so expect to see more flooding in Chicago.
The shifting of total water mass from the polar regions to the equator Earth’s rotation is slowing Earth’s rotation, which makes a day or year last a bit longer
Back in a geology class I took 2000ish the professors were very excited by the imminent launch of the GRACE twin satellites to measure shifts in gravity (from shifts in mass) across Earth’s surface. The subtle changes in mass could show the draw-down of aquifers, the amount of water taken up by vegetation seasonally, fault shifts in the crust, magma movement in the crust, etc.
Although the discussions of whether Earth speeds up, slows down & gets longer or shorter was on April 1st it was all after Noon so it doesn’t count. Rule 1 people.
So, if I understand correctly, a year is now a second shorter, meaning the earth is spinning faster, not slower. So, apparently loss of ice at the poles, I would surmise, is allowing the earth to lose it’s equatorial bulge, as the earth’s crust rises at the poles, so that, like the spinning ice skater pulling her arms in, the planet spins faster. Sort of the opposite of what Dr. Mann said. Someone clarify this for me, please.
you’re right. now I’m confused.
One of the recent clips about lake effect precipitation included the expert misspeaking by describing it as bringing warmer air over cold water, when it is in fact the cold air pulling the vapor off warm lakes or bays and dumping it when it passes over land. It’s a scientifical fact that people’s ability to speak properly goes down 2.4464% when they are seated in front of a camera.
It’s the water flowing to the equator which is slowing the Earth down. The crust will take thousands of years to rebound there.
The second we use daily is defined as a fraction of the Earth spin time, but is actually measured by Atomic clocks,
If the Earth is spinning slower, you need fewer seconds as measured by the atomic clocks to measure out a day……Sorry, i got confused there again!:)
No, the Earth is rotating more slowly, not fastet. Ice frozen at the poles (on the “skater’s axis”) is melting and gradually flowing to the equator-ish, making the “skater’s arms” stick farther out, slowing down the spin. Because the planet is spinning (minuscul-y) more slower, we will need to add in a leap second less often or, in a sense, losing it. Hope that’s clear; leap-anythings are a little confusing. 🙂
Slowing down as Confirmed by the Smithsonian.
“Melting Polar Ice Sheets Are Slowing Earth’s Rotation. That Could Change How We Keep Time
As ice melts into water and flows toward the equator, it redistributes mass around the Earth, affecting the planet’s spin, a new study finds”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/melting-polar-ice-sheets-are-slowing-earths-rotation-that-could-change-how-we-keep-time-180984046/
As others have already mentioned here, the rising or falling of crust has virtually no effect on Earth’s spin slowing down. Sticking with the ice skater analogy, a lot of polar ice is similar to the skater’s arms being held in. When polar ice melts, “centrifugal effects” along with “gravitational forces mostly from the Sun an moon” will draw the just melted water to the equator (a lot like the skater extending her arms). BTW, the rising-falling of Earths crust does affect life on the Great Lakes. The Bruce Peninsula in Ontario is rising while the southern tip of Lake Michigan is falling. Water still flows down hill so expect to see more flooding in Chicago.
The shifting of total water mass from the polar regions to the equator Earth’s rotation is slowing Earth’s rotation, which makes a day or year last a bit longer
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/melting-polar-ice-sheets-are-slowing-earths-rotation-that-could-change-how-we-keep-time-180984046/
Back in a geology class I took 2000ish the professors were very excited by the imminent launch of the GRACE twin satellites to measure shifts in gravity (from shifts in mass) across Earth’s surface. The subtle changes in mass could show the draw-down of aquifers, the amount of water taken up by vegetation seasonally, fault shifts in the crust, magma movement in the crust, etc.
Although the discussions of whether Earth speeds up, slows down & gets longer or shorter was on April 1st it was all after Noon so it doesn’t count. Rule 1 people.