Key point:There is still a lot to learn about how quickly Antarctica will respond to climate change.

A record start to summer ice melt in Greenland this year has drawn attention to the northern ice sheet. We will have to wait to see if 2019 continues to break ice-melt records, but in the rapidly warming Arctic the long-term trends of ice loss are clear.

But what about at the other icy end of the planet?

Antarctica is an icy giant compared to its northern counterpart. The water frozen in the Greenland ice sheet is equivalent to around 7 metres of potential sea level rise. In the Antarctic ice sheet there are around 58 metres of sea-level rise currently locked away.

Like Greenland, the Antarctic ice sheet is losing ice and contributing to unabated global sea level rise. But there are worrying signs Antarctica is changing faster than expected and in places previously thought to be protected from rapid change.

The threat from beneath

On the Antarctic Peninsula the most northerly part of the Antarctic continent air temperatures over the past century have risen faster than any other place in the Southern Hemisphere. Summer melting already happens on the Antarctic Peninsula between 25 and 80 days each year. The number of melt days will rise by at least 50% when global warming hits the soon-to-be-reached 1.5 limit set out in the Paris Agreement, with some predictions pointing to as much as a 150% increase in melt days.

But the main threat to the Antarctic ice sheet doesnt come from above. What threatens to truly transform this vast icy continent lies beneath, where warming ocean waters (and the vast heat carrying capacity of seawater) have the potential to melt ice at an unprecedented rate.

Read more: New findings on ocean warming: 5 questions answered

Almost all (around 93%) of the extra heat human activities have caused to accumulate on Earth since the Industrial Revolution lies within the ocean. And a large majority of this has been taken into the depths of the Southern Ocean. It is thought that this effect could delay the start of significant warming over much of Antarctica for a century or more.

However, the Antarctic ice sheet has a weak underbelly. In some places the ice sheet sits on ground that is below sea level. This puts the ice sheet in direct contact with warm ocean waters that are very effective at melting ice and destabilising the ice sheet.

Scientists have long been worried about the potential weakness of ice in West Antarctica because of its deep interface with the ocean. This concern was flagged in the first report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) way back in 1990, although it was also thought that substantial ice loss from Antarctica wouldnt be seen this century. Since 1992 satellites have been monitoring the status of the Antarctic ice sheet and we now know that not only is ice loss already underway, it is also vanishing at an accelerating rate.

The latest estimates indicate that 25% of the West Antarctic ice sheet is now unstable, and that Antarctic ice loss has increased five-fold over the past 25 years. These are remarkable numbers, bearing in mind that more than 4 metres of global sea-level rise are locked up in the West Antarctic alone.

Read more: Antarctica has lost nearly 3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992

Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is currently the focus of a major US-UK research program as there is still a lot we dont understand about how quickly ice will be lost here in the future. For example, gradual lifting of the bedrock as it responds to the lighter weight of ice (known as rebounding) could reduce contact between the ice sheet and warm ocean water and help to stabilise runaway ice loss.

On the other hand, melt water from the ice sheets is changing the structure and circulation of the Southern Ocean in a way that could bring even warmer water into contact with the base of the ice sheet, further amplifying ice loss.

There are other parts of the Antarctic ice sheet that havent had this same intensive research, but which appear to now be stirring. The Totten Glacier, close to Australias Casey station, is one area unexpectedly losing ice. There is a very pressing need to understand the vulnerabilities here and in other remote parts of the East Antarctic coast.

The other type of ice

Sea ice forms and floats on the surface of the polar oceans. The decline of Arctic sea ice over the past 40 years is one of the most visible climate change impacts on Earth. But recent years have shown us that the behaviour of Antarctic sea ice is stranger and potentially more volatile.

The extent of sea ice around Antarctica has been gradually increasing for decades. This is contrary to expectations from climate simulations, and has been attributed to changes in the ocean structure and changing winds circling the Antarctic continent.

But in 2015, the amount of sea ice around Antarctica began to drop precipitously. In just 3 years Antarctica lost the same amount of sea ice the Arctic lost in 30.

Read more: Why Antarctica's sea ice cover is so low (and no, it's not just about climate change)

So far in 2019, sea ice around Antarctica is tracking near or below the lowest levels on record from 40 years of satellite monitoring. In the long-term this trend is expected to continue, but such a dramatic drop over only a few years was not anticipated.

There is still a lot to learn about how quickly Antarctica will respond to climate change. But there are very clear signs that the icy giant is awakening and via global sea level rise coming to pay us all a visit.

Nerilie Abram, ARC Future Fellow, Research School of Earth Sciences; Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, Australian National University; Matthew England, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow; Deputy Director of the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC); Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Climate System Science, UNSW, and Matt King, Professor, Surveying & Spatial Sciences, School of Technology, Environments and Design, University of Tasmania

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

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Antarctica Is An Environmental Disaster Just Waiting To Happen - The National Interest Online

LUCY CLAIRE: REDEMPTION #3, out this Wednesday from Image Comics continues the dramatic tale of a disgraced werewolf hunter, laying out all of her pain and guilt while building the tension for what is to come.

Iconic and relevant imagery for the cover of Lucy Claire: Redemption #3.

***SPOILER WARNING***

Lucy Claire: Redemption has been a chilling and thrilling read so far. This werewolf hunting series is one that stands out among the pack (pun intended) and with good reason. Lucy Claire is a disgraced werewolf hunter, one who carries her loss and guilt on her slim shoulders.

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One of the things that make this series so impressive is that it is written, illustrated, and lettered by only one person: John Upchurch. This is without a doubt a labor of love, albeit a labor of love full of violence and tense backstory.

The alternate cover for Lucy Claire: Redemption #3 gives a glimpse at the new antagonist shes about to face.

Lucy Claire: Redemption #3 picks up exactly where the last issue left off. The battle in the dump has just ended, and Lucy is not certain about what she just witnessed. Given everything shes been through lately; we dont blame her for not trusting her own senses.

One thing is certain, thats one heck of a way to start off an issue. It wasted no time throwing readers into the thick of things. It also truly set the pace for the rest of the issue. Everything quickly rolled from one moment to the next.

This is another one of those carefully balanced issues. On the one hand, theres plenty of action and gore to go around. On the other hand, theres the fragile creature that is Lucys mental and emotional state. The two bounce off each other to shockingly great effect, resulting in a tale that is full of drama and impact.

The final battle portrayed in this issue is an intense one, but it goes deeper than that as well. It was a well-written series of events. And it left readers eager for the next issue, where the truth of what is really going on will finally (hopefully) be revealed.

The artwork in Lucy Claire: Redemption #3 is outstanding. The colors are vibrant and lush, the characters full of personality and a range of emotions, and much more. Theres a lot to love about this issue, from the individual panels to the full page spreads.

One highlight of this issue has got to be the fight scenes. There are two fights in this issue, though both are dramatically different from one another. Both have interesting setups, but neither would have carried the same weight without the artwork to support it. Theres this real sense of danger, thanks to the creatures being portrayed. You can get a sense of movement and impact as well something that will make you wince with sympathy a time or two.

The variety of wolves portrayed in this issue (and series as a whole) is another element worth talking about. Theres not one stagnant type of wolf that Lucy is battling here. The variety in itself adds a certain amount of visual appeal, and thats before taking into account the more ephemeral way the larger beasts are drawn. That just takes the series (and its antagonists) to a whole new level.

A peek at the cover for Lucy Claire: Redemption #4.

Lucy Claire: Redemption #3 is another intense read in this series. Honestly, its hard to believe that were only three issues in, given how much has occurred. This is a thrilling tale that sets the werewolves and werewolf hunters on a completely different path than the norm. All by adding shocking twists and turns at every opportunity.

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Loss and Determination in LUCY CLAIRE: REDEMPTION #3 - Monkeys Fighting Robots

The myriad benefits of exercise are well-documented. From physical strength and emotional control, to warding off cognitive disease, weight management, and overall life satisfaction, staying fit is demanded by our biology. There's another benefit of exercise that older populations need to consider: remaining independent well into old age.

That's the consensus of Amanda Loudin's recent Washington Post article. She begins by discussing an 82-year-old female powerlifter pummeling a home intruder with a table and bottle of baby shampoo. Thankfully, her incredible story was captured on video. Willie Murphy beat him so bad he begged her to call an ambulance. Fortunately (for him) the police arrived just in time to help him out.

Not everyone is Willie Murphy. But how many octogenarians would be able to fend for themselves when a younger and larger man breaks into their home? At that age, a mere slip can easily cause a hip fracture, which could quickly result in death. The fall causes the victim's immune system to be compromised, making them more susceptible to common illnesses like pneumonia. That process is exactly what killed my grandmother.

Only in the post-Industrial world did we even need to think of exercise as separate from everyday life. For most of time, every member of a tribe had to carry their own weight. Survival required physical activity; everyone had to chip in. Sure, there was huntingthe average nomadic tribe member walked an average of 19 miles per daybut there was also squatting and bending to pick vegetables, roots, and plants, carrying water from the river, and that essential component of social coherence: play.

Movement is a biological inheritance. We do harm when not honoring that fact.

Regardless of fitness level, sarcopenia plagues everyone. The loss of muscle tissue begins in our thirties. While any exercise aids in overall health, only by lifting heavy objects (or lighter objects repetitively"time under tension" matters) do we fend off the ravages of muscular atrophy. As sports medicine physician Matt Sedgley tells Loudin,

"When we talk about bone health and falls, we talk about three factors: fall, fragility and force. Participating in weight-bearing and resistance-training exercises helps develop muscle mass. This may help treat fragility conditions like osteoporosis. So if you fall you have stronger bone density. It may also lead to more cushioning when you do fall."

Falling is one danger. There are other less serious (though equally frustrating) realities we face as we age. Walking up and down stairs without losing our breath. The ability to carry our groceries from the car. Speaking of cars, there's also driving. The more we lose motor control and strength, the less we'll be able to remain independent.

It doesn't have to be that way. Consider Tao Porchon-Lynch, a 101-year-old yoga instructor who continues to teach workshops and dance in ballroom competitions. Her secret? She never stopped being active. When I interviewed her in 2010, shortly after taking her master class, she had just broken her wrist. Within two months, at age 91, she was doing arm balances with ease. That injury would sideline people half her age far longer. As she told me that afternoon,

"I've had a hip replacement. I was getting dog food at A&P. I got twisted and ended up with a pin in my hip. Health-wise, I'm seldom sick. Mentally, I don't allow myself to think about tomorrow and what will happen. I don't like people to tell me what I can't do. I never thought about age."

At that time, Porchon-Lynch lived alone, shopped for herself, and drove herself around her upstate New York community to teach five yoga classes a week. When I've discussed her fierce independence and incredible fitness to people over the years, some claim genes and others luck. Sure, those factor in, but that sounds more like an excuse. It reduces a lifetime of hard work to a quip that makes someone feel better about their lack of desire for putting in the work to stay healthy.

The author practicing with Tao Porchon-Lynch, Strala Yoga, New York City, 2010.

To paraphrase biomechanist and popular blogger, Katy Bowman, you are never out of shape; you are exactly in the shape you train for. If you don't train in any capacity, your shape is going to reduce the possibility that you'll remain independent later in life.

There are numerous arguments about exactly how to remain fit. What runs underneath all of them is that you have to move in some capacity. A 2012 review of sarcopenia in older adults details its causes and consequences, as well as offering ways of fending off inevitable decline. Aging is the obvious culprit, though the authors better define the issues:

"Its cause is widely regarded as multifactorial, with neurological decline, hormonal changes, inflammatory pathway activation, declines in activity, chronic illness, fatty infiltration, and poor nutrition, all shown to be contributing factors."

By the eighth decade of life as much as 50 percent of muscle mass has been lost. Obesity, an increasing problem in our time, negatively contributes to this process: increased fat mass accelerates the loss of muscle tone and lean body mass. While mass tends to be the focus when defining sarcopenia, strength is another factor. We get weaker as we age. But we can slow the decline through exercise and better nutrition.

Loading your body with heavy weights (or lower weights at higher repetitions) fits into the movement recipe, along with the basics: squatting, jumping, pushing, and pulling. Being able to pick up and put down weight, to pull weight to you and push it away from you, and to move through your entire range of motion on a regular basis are all basic movement patterns that help to fend off the demise of muscle mass and strength.

It is inevitable that you will become weaker and slower. Losing your independence does not have to be the end result. You can live well until the day they die. You can remain quite independent. But you have to put in the work to earn that result.

--

Stay in touch with Derek on Twitter and Facebook. His next book is Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy.

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Another important reason to stay fit: your independence - Big Think

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If you're one of the many readers who set their 2020 vision for health and have been following along in this eight-week series, you should be at about the halfway mark and starting to see and feel some positive changes in your body.

Makes you want to keep going, doesn't it?

So far I've covered how detoxing is a great way to clean out your body's filtering systems colon, liver, kidneys and start fresh and clean, working towards achieving your health and weight loss goals. I also explained the importance of choosing clean, single-ingredient foods and eating them in a way that stabilizes blood sugar and why this is so important, not only for weight loss, but for overall health.

If you missed these earlier articles, you can get up to speed by joining my 8 Weeks is All it Takes group on Facebook and watching the weekly videos posted in the announcements section.

Moving on through week three and into four, we're going to dive into unpacking the three different body types and identifying which one best describes you. Also, we're going to explore how stress and sleep directly affect your weight and overall health.

When it comes to body type, you'll fall into one of these three categories: ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph. An ectomorph is someone who can lose weight easily and never seems to gain an ounce. An endomorph is just the opposite, someone who has to work harder to lose weight and can gain it back quite easily. A mesomorph is someone who falls somewhere in the middle and can lose or gain weight just about equally well. And as you may have guessed, everyone's metabolism is different.

Think about a bicycle. Ectomorphs are lean and fast, much like a road bike. Mesomorphs are similar to a mountain bike. A bit more resistance than a road bike, but will get to the destination relatively quickly when you ride just a little harder. Endomorphs are like the cruiser bikes. No gears or anything extra to make pedalling easier, but when you put in the effort and stay the course you will get there.

That last bit is important to note. You will get there. Regardless how fast (or not) your metabolism is, or how quickly (or not) you lose weight, if you just keep riding your bike and moving forward, you will arrive at your destination and see results.

Body type is only one determining factor in reaching your health and weight-loss goals. Stress and sleep carry a lot of weight here too. No pun intended.

Let's do a little survey. On a scale of one to 10, if one is nothing and 10 is maxed out, what number would you give your current level of stress? On the same scale, how would you rate the way you've been sleeping? Ideally, you want to be low on the stress and high on the sleep. Unfortunately, the opposite is true for most folks.

Stress triggers a chain of reactions that, if not broken, is extremely detrimental to your health. Cortisol is released into the blood stream, which causes the body to store belly fat. Blood sugar levels spike resulting in insulin spikes as the pancreas works overtime to try and bring the levels back in line and restore balance. Adrenaline is also released into the body, digestive function is slowed, sleep is compromised and blood flow is diverted away from vital organs to our extremities. Stress, whether real or perceived, equates to danger and these things are set in motion to prepare us to be able to stand and fight or turn and run away. Problem is, stress is not so much situational like when our ancestors had to run from a tiger or fight off attackers. They escape, stress is gone, body goes back to its original state. Today, most people who describe themselves as being stressed say it's just there and they don't see any way to change it. With no escape, the body remains in this heightened state, constantly working overtime.

Lack of sleep also comes with some side effects. Without enough hours of good quality sleep on a regular basis, the body cannot properly metabolize the food you give it. So even when you're eating good quality food, you're missing out on some of the nutrients. In addition, the hormones that tell us when we're hungry or full (ghrelin and leptin) become imbalanced with lack of sleep, causing us to make poor food choices. Lack of sleep also lowers immune function, affects moods, concentration, focus, co-ordination, decreases your productivity, and increases internal inflammation.

So what can a stressed-out, sleep-deprived endomorph do to lose weight and increase overall health? First, although you can't change your body type per se, any body type can increase metabolism with good quality food and eating to stabilize blood sugar. Truly, you'd be amazed what this can do. Next, set yourself up for a good night's sleep by turning off all screen time 30-60 minutes before bed. Dim the lights and opt for reading, taking a warm bath, listening to music, etc., to wind down and prepare your body for sleep. And if you have a lot going on in your head, quickly jot down on paper everything running around in there, effectively emptying your mind and allowing you to fall asleep more quickly and have better quality sleep.

Finally, identify where your stress is coming from and put it into perspective. We mistakenly think that everything needs to be done yesterday or the world will come to an end. Know your limits, prioritize, and ask yourself, Will anyone die if I don't ________? If the answer is no, let it go. And to break up stress and allow your body to come back down, get out and run like a tiger really is chasing you. You'll be amazed at how great you feel.

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Body type, stress and sleep - FIT Talk With Tania - Castanet.net

880 days. That is the amount of time Adam Lallana waited to score his most recent Liverpool goal, the late equaliser in the Reds' only non-victory this Premier League season away at Manchester United, after previously finding the net against Middlesbrough in May 2017.

In his first three seasons with the Reds, Lallana scored 22 times in all competitions. In the past three campaigns, he has only scored once. His appearance numbers per season have more than halved too, through a combination of persistent injuries and incoming transfers knocking him down the midfield pecking order. Some supporters have been quick to criticise his output in recent season,using the raw numbers as evidence he hasn't been pulling his weight.

But rather than reducing in influence, Lallana's role has actually shape-shifted over time, as his skill-set has been married to different positions to suit the changing needs of the Liverpool system at different times. Lallana has by no means become a less effective player for Liverpool his role in the squad has totally changed instead.

Now, six years after his arrival at Liverpool, Lallana is set to leave the club on a free transfer at the expiration of his contract in June, and Leicester City have apparently made an early move to secure his services.

What that means is that Jrgen Klopp has some very interesting, and difficult, questions to answer when considering how to replace Lallana in his squad this summer.

The Adam Lallana that signed for Liverpool in 2014 is very different to the ones the Reds will be losing in 2020. In his first season with the club, Lallana made 39 appearances in all competitions, 22 from attacking midfield and 16 on both wings. He matched those kinds of numbers in the following campaign too, before playing 20 of his 32 matches in central midfield in 2016/17, Klopp's first full campaign in charge. The transition further and further towards his own goal has been completed this season, with the majority of Lallana's start coming as the deep-lying no. 6 in Klopp's midfield.

The effect the backwards movement has had on Lallana's output is striking. Below are some of his numbers from the 2017/18 season.

Here are the ones from 2019/20 so far for comparison.

The data highlights Lallana's greatly reduced influence in attacking areas, while also demonstrating the much stronger impact he has on matches in a defensive sense. Between these seasons, Lallana has entirely transformed his game in order to suit what Klopp felt he needed he required in the squad, and has managed to do so very well. His success in becoming the 'Jorginho-style' player Klopp wanted him to become last pre-season, which was scoffed at by plenty of fans pundits alike, it testament to both his adaptability and his determination to make significant contributions to this Liverpool team, even at the cost of his own way of playing.

When Liverpool come to plan how to deal with his departure, then, they will need to decide whether they are replacing the Lallana of old, or this season's transformed version.

Liverpool will need to find a way to allow Curtis Jones more regular playing time next season, with the 19-year-old's very impressive technical ability, leadership quality and strong understanding of Klopp's system suggesting he can progress very quickly as part of the first-team squad rather than a loan move being necessary. Jones is best harnessed either as the most advanced player in a midfield three on the left wing, though, meaning he would have represented an astute replacement for 2014-2016 Lallana, but not the one who is leaving a hole in Liverpool's squad now.

Pedro Chirivella has impressed in the no. 6 role in domestic cup outings this season, with his performances against Everton and Shrewsbury at Anfield in particular drawing praise. The Spaniard will be 23 by the end of the season, however, and doesn't seem to have developed to the level required in order to play at the base of the Liverpool midfield on a regular basis.

Marko Grujic, somehow, still remains a Liverpool player, despite spending the past two years on loan at Hertha Berlin. The Serbian has played almost all of his 21 Hertha matches this season as a central midfielder, with a handful of starts as a defensive midfielder too. In terms of position, then, Grujic could be realistically thought of as an easy and cost-effective replacement in Klopp's squad. At 6ft 4in, though, Grujic's playing style is vastly different to Lallana's despite operating in similar areas of the patch. Where Lallana is nimble and able to turn in tight spaces while moving the ball quickly, Grujic is aggressive and likes to carry the ball forward. Klopp tried a player with similar qualities at the base of his midfield in Emre Can, and the results were mixed at best.

Leciester City are now one of Liverpool's major rivals make no mistake about that. With Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur all in varying levels of disarray, Leicester have built a squad that is talented and tactically astute, under the tutelage of a better manager than any of those former title challengers currently employs. With Manchester City's future clouded by their Champions League ban, Leicester could well become the Reds' biggest contenders in the short-term future.

With that in mind, Liverpool will be disappointed if Lallana does opt to re-join Rodgers in the Midlands. Since Klopp's arrival, Liverpool have sold few players to direct competitors in England or Europe, with Philippe Coutinho and Emre Can's respective moves to Barcelona and Juventus the two major exceptions. Of course, the club has no jurisdiction on where Lallana moves, but Leicester would represent a change that could come back to hurt Liverpool.

The move itself seems quite peculiar. Obviously, Lallana is a good player, Leicester are a good team, and player and manager know they can work well together. But Lallana is seeking guarantees about consistent first-team football, and with Leicester's midfield well-stocked with an array of very talented technical players who are younger than him, he may well find himself starting a not too dissimilar amount of matches at the King Power as he has been at Anfield.

It is extremely unlikely that Liverpool will make an offer of their own to keep Lallana at the club, but if he ends up turning Leicester down and joining a a side which does not directly compete with the Reds, then the loss will be far easier to take.

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Jrgen Klopp is losing his reborn favourite in transfer to rivals, giving Liverpool a squad problem - Liverpool.com