In 2014, several research groups suggested that the oceanfront glaciers in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica may have reached a point of “unstoppable” retreat due to warm ocean waters melting them from below. There’s a great deal at stake — West Antarctica is estimated to contain enough ice to raise global sea levels by 3.3 meters, or well over 10 feet, were it all to melt.
The thing that worries me about all this talk is the alarmism. It is not enough to say that this could happen over a thousand years. It needs to be a threat today to be of interest to the reading public. Quickly clickbait, and lots of talk about global warming being a threat, becomes the standard of the day.
I agree, not only does the title have the word 'fear' in it, the first sentence references a media metric: I am sure that the editor would not allow the title to suggest that the change is expected to take thousands of years. This is shameful, and it's part of the reason that climate change is actually debatable in the U.S. Nothing is presented in a sensible manner.It may be the biggest climate change story of the last two years.