In this program we bypass the mainstream media machine to hear from the NASA scientists who say the melt of one Antarctic glacier set is now "unstoppable". We don't often get such certainty from science, or large government agencies.
REDRAW THE MAPS
This is a moment to gasp, just like the record Arctic sea ice melt of 2007. The planet has undeniably and unmistakably been altered. It's a major tipping point crossed. Even without the Greenland Ice melt, the Antarctic glaciers will reshape the geography of land for all conceivable generations to come. Redraw the maps, and realize humans will eventually withdraw from mega-cities ranging from New York to China, a retreat from the sea by millions of people, from trillions of dollars in assets. That's what this is about.
I play you an edited-for-radio replay of the NASA press conference held May 12th for the media.
Scientists have long feared that human-made climate change would trigger melting of Antarctic glaciers, especially in the fragile West Antarctic Peninsula. Now the bad news is upon us: Antarctica is melting. The process NASA scientists say, is unstoppable. The inevitable result will be massive sea level rise over the next several centuries. Some scientists suggest 30 meters, or 70 feet of sea level rise is even possible this century, but the NASA study is more conservative, as you will hear.
Keep in mind when the study authors talk about 3 meters, or 10 feet of global sea level rise, they are discussing only the potential from a small part of the West Antarctic Peninsula they have studied, not the totals from elsewhere among the South Pole glaciers, or melt waters from Greenland.
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EL NINO IS COMING!
The second part of the program is an interview with New Zealand scientist Kevin Trenberth about the El Nino developing this year. It will likely bring another year of drought and wild fires to Australia, with many other impacts around the world. Trenberth is pretty certain we will get one, saying scientists are underestimating the signs and the risks. It could even shove us into a hotter world from which we never cool down. The audio comes courtesy of Peter Sinclair at climatecrocks.com.
The show finishes up with new climate music from California's Dana Pearson, and details of a Radio Ecoshock contest to get more climate music. Find more in my weekly show blog, as well as a free download of key climate quotes from Radio Ecoshock interviews. You can use these quotes in new music, in your blog or web page, in your podcast, so long as you credit Radio Ecoshock, and don't use it for any commercial purpose. Now you can literally get the word out there.
Blog here:
http://www.ecoshock.info/2014/05/gasp-antarctica-is-melting.html