Global Warming Is More Likely To Be Worse Than We Think

The group of global warming deniers is shrinking.  They are joining the group of those that now admit that there's warming and that it's anthropogenic, but won't admit to the serious consequences.  

It’s the hottest trend in climate denial. Long gone are the days when people can publicly deny that the planet is warming or that humans are responsible without facing widespread mockery. Those who oppose taking serious action to curb global warming have mostly shifted to Stage 3 in the 5 stages of climate denial.

• Stage 1: Deny the problem exists
• Stage 2: Deny we’re the cause
• Stage 3: Deny it’s a problem
• Stage 4: Deny we can solve it
• Stage 5: It’s too late

I have news for them -- it is very likely going to be far worse than they realize.  I've warned about this before.   One of these hangs over us like a Sword of Damocles, the methane bound to the permafrost in Siberia.  Another is the Antarctic Larsen-C ice shelf.  

In the past 20 years, warming temperatures have caused two ice shelves in Antarctica to collapse into the ocean. New research points to a third shelf, more than twice the size of Wales, which has thinned so much that it could now also face collapse.

The loss of the shelf would allow glaciers to flow more quickly into the ocean, pushing sea levels beyond current projections for this century, the researchers say.

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At the moment, scientists predict that sea levels will rise by over half a metre by 2100, even under moderate scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions. This would cause problems for coastal areas and low-lying cities, says Vaughan.

NASA reports: Antarctic Ice Shelf Is A Few Years From Disintegration

The study's lead scientist, Ala Khazendar, said analysis of the data reveals that a widening rift in Larsen B will eventually break it apart completely, probably around the year 2020.
Once that happens, glaciers held in place by the ice shelf will slip into the ocean at a faster rate and contribute to rising sea levels, scientists say.

The study also found Leppard and Flask, two main tributary glaciers of the ice shelf, have thinned by between 65 and 72 feet (20 to 22 meters) in recent years, and the pace of their shrinking has accelerated since the immediate aftermath of the 2002 partial collapse of the ice shelf.

When these shelf's disintegrate, ocean levels will rise significantly, starting in five years.  This is likely to happen whatever we do to stop global warming.  That's Stage 5.