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So, supposedly the Thwaites ice glacier is going to come
crashing down sometime soon, thanks to a hole
discovered
underneath it, no doubt dug up by the Digging-est Dog.
This is billed as a VERY BAD THING on the order of
catastrophic sea rise of two feet or so everywhere.
I’m interested
in the supporting math.
The earth has 139.7 million square miles of ocean.
That’s
5.608E17 square inches. To raise all of that 1 inch would
take 5.608E17 cubic inches of water I presume, given
square-sided oceans. That is 2200 cubic miles of water,
unless I missed a step.
NBC claims a rise of 2 feet possible, so 24 x 2200
=~53000
cubic miles of water. Or a 1000 ft thick glacier that is
279400 square miles, or roughly the size of Texas.
What say you? Anyone got a slide rule handy?
(Title borrowed from my favorite childhood book)
Back in the news...
https://www.nbcnews...tists-warn-rcna8918
Yikes. [RayfordSteele, Dec 16 2021]
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Annotation:
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So, ways to insulate the icebox so the hot hot
Antarctic sea water doesn’t melt it further? |
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Gah, the units. Why don't you go the whole hog, and use
chains or furlongs? |
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//catastrophic sea rise of two feet// Thank gods it's imperial
water - England is metric, and hence protected. |
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//England is metric, and hence protected// - although post-Brexit, as part of 'regaining control' and recapturing our 'glorious past' we'll be giving up the metric system, decimal currency, antibiotics, flush toilets and a Copernicus-based model of the universe. |
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Uh, shirley we'll get to keep antibiotics and flush toilets, and
it'll be the Europeans who have to give them up? |
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Ah yes, but we get see extra bendy bananas again. |
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A plus then, I can stop hiding
mine from EU inspectors. |
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And as any fule kno the preferred unit of land area is 'the size of Wales'. |
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Step One: Install caryatids. |
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Step Two: Turn underwater, plinth-mounted handles to activate
concealed jacks, so that the caryatids perform a sort of
synchronised Pilates-stretch until the ice is lifted clear of the
water. |
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Spacing of caryatids will depend on the shear strength of the ice
and the sheer strength of the jacks. |
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//a Copernicus-based model of the universe.//
I don't think we've ever used that have we? For as long as I can remember (which isn't all that long these days, admittedly) England has always been placed firmly, unflinchingly & patriotically at the centre of the Universe. |
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Will you surrender the metric system back to the
French? |
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Will you go back to using pounds shillings, and
pence, or LSD? (Anyone wanting to have anything to
do with Pence must be on LSD honestly). |
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Pounds, shillings, pence & LSD? sounds good, lead on macduff. |
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Hard metric except speed limits? |
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I suppose hardness is not the same as thoroughness, so we
might say something like "hard metric except the last mile".
Progress towards full metrication inches forward. |
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That is a weighty answer, Ian, for a light jab. How
many stones does it weigh I wonder? |
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//drinks are sold in a pub// |
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They still do that? I thought all the pubs had been re-purposed
as flats already. |
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//the metric equivalent (which may not be exact, but the
nearest within tolerance) given second and in brackets//
What happens if you want to buy brackets? |
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As regards road signs being in mph, this is because the roads
themselves are, for the most part, imperial. If we used
metric for roads, you'd get signs like "BASINGSTOKE 23.77331
KM", which would be confusing because nobody wants to go to
Basingstoke. |
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// I’ve even done so myself // |
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<Forwards text of annotation to Fortean Times for inclusion in their next "Urban Legends" column./> |
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// confusing because nobody wants to go to Basingstoke. // |
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No, because the signs are on the sides of the roads leading away from Basingstoke, reassuring travellers that they are getting further away. |
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//"BASINGSTOKE 23.77331 KM"// |
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Brings back that old question of whether nature is metric, imperial or something else. </baton's down hatches ( couldn't find a hammer), pushes couches against doors> |
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The Planck length is ~1.6 E-35 meters. 1 mile is
~1.6 km. Therefore nature is imperial-based. 1
Planck length ~1 E-38 miles. |
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[pertinax] There's a decimal place,hexidecimal place and all the other different bases' places. Is the general term 'base place' or is there a specific term? |
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I'm sorry, [wjt], I haven't a clue. |
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Rayner's Lane (Picadilly Line). |
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So, the media alarmists who like to grab onto the extremum
of any science report for the headline appeal say at the worst,
a 10 feet rise within 5 years. |
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That sounds kinda bad even at a low probability. Especially if
you own property in Florida or along any barrier island... |
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