Get your life preservers and sell your land in Florida

I have been saying for some time that when it comes to global warming we are long past the point where we should be pointing fingers and looking for causes. Global warming is here, we can't stop it so it's time to figure out how we are going to cope with it. Here is more evidence, Antarctic ice sheet is an 'awakened giant'.

The massive west Antarctic ice sheet, previously assumed to be stable, is starting to collapse, scientists warned on Tuesday.

Antarctica contains more than 90% of the world's ice, and the loss of any significant part of it would cause a substantial sea level rise. Scientists used to view Antarctica as a "slumbering giant", said Chris Rapley, from the British Antarctic Survey, but now he sees it as an "awakened giant".

So what does that mean?

If the ice on the peninsula melts entirely it will raise global sea levels by 0.3 metres[about a foot], and the west Antarctic ice sheet contains enough water to contribute metres more. The last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2001, said that collapse of this ice sheet was unlikely during the 21st century. That may now need to be reassessed, Rapley warned.

Cork from a bottle

Changes on the peninsula, where 75% of the 400 mountain glaciers are in retreat, have provided new insights into the ways that ice sheets may disintegrate.

In March 2002, a huge floating ice shelf known as Larsen B shattered into icebergs. This turned out to have an effect akin to pulling a cork from a bottle. With Larsen B no longer impeding movement, the ice floes that fed the shelf began moving faster towards the sea and started to thin. The finding took scientists by surprise when revealed in September 2004 and now modellers are now working to include such mechanisms in their predictions.

The results of this may well be a slow motion tsunami that will impact the land areas where 90% of the worlds population live. Even a minor rise in sea level could cause the Florida peninsula to become uninhabitabal. It's time to respond to the real threat and stop pointing fingers and stop trying to stop the unstoppable.