environment,energy,greenhouse,gas,carbon,dioxide,global,nuclear energy,clean energy,emissions,global climate change,environmental impacts, Nuclear Energy Can Save US: How High Can the Oceans Rise?

Nuclear Energy Can Save US--America�s 100 nukes equal four million barrels of oil per day.


Billions of lives and civilization itself may be at risk from the Global Warming & End of Cheap Oil, Crisis. Rising sea levels and rising oil prices could be the end of civilization as we know it. The problem is so huge that the most powerful answer, many nuclear plants, must be deployed. Currently, America‘s 100 nukes deliver the energy of four million barrels of oil per day. Wind and solar cannot do the job, and may delay the real answer too long. Still, all kinds of clean energy, plus conservation, plus reducing deforestation, will be needed to help the poor half of the world, and for civilization to survive through this century.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

How High Can the Oceans Rise?

Currently, and for some decades past, the oceans have been rising at an average rate of two millimeters per year (Scientific American, 12/02 and 10/03). Two mm equals 0.080in. For a century, at this rate, the worldwide ocean level will rise only 8 inches (100 x 0.080=8.0). For my post (Will Earth get Hotter or Colder), various statement from SA articles were used, to estimate that the maximum rise from now, could be only 20 feet. This is not correct because the amount of ice remaining in the world was more than I thought. The post was based on several statements starting with "10 million cubic miles of ice (9.3 M cubic-miles water) melted after the last ice age raised sea levels by 360-feet". This sounded right. 9.3 million cubic miles water, over 140 million square-miles of ocean, would raise the sea 1/15 of a mile, or 352 feet. Close enough, but I misinterpreted other data.
Statements to reconcile now, include: "Antarctica contains 90% of the remaining ice in the world, and Greenland has most of the rest" (SA). "The West Antarctic ice field contains 3 million cubic kilometers of ice" (SA). A Binghamton University prof, says melting of Greenland's ice cap would cause the sea level to rise 6.6 meters (21.6 feet). Melting all the ice on Antarctica would raise sea level 73.4 meters (241 feet), a total rise of 262 feet.
From these statements, my estimates would be as follows:
262 feet rise over 140 million square miles = 7.0 Million cubic miles water = 7.5 MCM ice.
Antarctica = 90% of 7.5 MCM ice = 6.8 MCM ice
Greenland = 7.5 - 6.8 = 0.7 MCM ice = 0.65 MCM water = 0.65/7.5 X 262 = 22.7-foot rise
West Antarctic Ice Sheet =3 MCKm of ice= 0.72 MCM ice =0.67 MCM water = 23.4-foot rise.
East Antarctic Ice Sheet: 6.8 MCM ice - 0.72 MCM ice (West. Ant.) = 6.1 MCM ice, or 5.7 MCM water. This much water would cause a huge sea level rise. No one is concerned about this, in any human time scale. This ice sheet has been stable for 15 million years, whereas the West Antarctic sheet, has vanished from time to time; the last being 600,000 years ago.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

An interesting post I found about nuclear ships and their potential environmental benefits.

Nuclear Ships of the Cold War

shawrich said...

It is interesting, but I believe that ships are only a small part of the energy budget of the world. I really doubt that many will be fueled by nuclear energy, unless the South Africa program to build mini-megawatt, nuclear units for serial production and shipment makes it feasible.