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Re:Scientists discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Green... by animal_spirits on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @10:48PM (#26499273)
> The new study provides strong evidence that Greenland is more sensitive to climate change than previously understood -- and at risk of irreversibly melting.

I think its silly to say _irreversibly_ melting. It apparently was completely ice free at one point, and then something natural caused it to freeze over. Likely it could happen again in the future

Re:Scientists discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Green... by danielheath on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @11:33PM (#26499462)
Sure, but it seems unlikely to be reversible on human timescales, which are the ones that matter to me.
Re:Scientists discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Green... by exporectomy on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @11:57PM (#26499556)
It won't melt on human timescales either. Total mass of Greenland ice = 4e15 tonnes. Upper end of predicted melt rate this century = 4e13 tonnes/century. So it could lose up to 1% of its mass this century or at the same rate, take 10,000 years to completely melt.
Re:Scientists discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Green... by eloff on Thursday March 18, 2021 @12:52AM (#26499778)
Those estimates can always be revised as we learn more, and melting ice sheets are not a linear process - it accelerates both as it melts and as the climate continues to warm.

You're right that it will take a long time, but wrong that we needn't worry. Even just a couple feet of sea level rise will wreak havoc in parts of the world.

Re:Scientists discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Green... by exporectomy on Thursday March 18, 2021 @01:06AM (#26499829)
We're talking about the irreversibility of the melting here, not the fact that it's melting which everyone already knows and was even happening before AGW started.
Re:Scientists discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Green... by eloff on Thursday March 18, 2021 @04:11PM (#26507054)
No, we were taking about the pace of melting and the impact of that. Don't move the goal posts.