The initial laparoscopic appearance can predict response to combination therapy in hepatitis C

Abstract

Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, covering 5.4 million square miles (14 million square km). The average winter temperature in Antarctica is −81°F (−63°C) and has reached −128.6°F (−89.2°C). About 98% of the Antarctic continent is covered by glacial ice that averages about 1.2 miles (1.9 km) in thickness. The total volume of ice in Antarctica is about 6.4 million cubic miles (26.5 million cubic km), comprising about 90% of the world's ice and about 70% of the world's fresh water. The average height of the ice sheet is approximately 10,000 ft above sea level. At its thickest point, the ice is 15,700 ft (4776 m) thick. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is by far the biggest ice sheet, making up 92% of the total glacial ice, while the West Antarctic Ice Sheet makes up only about 8%.The Steig et al. analysis that all of Antarctica is warming was refuted by O'Donnell et al., who showed that their methodology was badly flawed. Using the same data as Steig et al., but with better technology, they produced a map showing cooling dominating most of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet with warming primarily constrained to the Antarctica Peninsula. Satellite and surface temperature measurements demonstrate that the Steig et al. contention that all of Antarctica is warming is clearly false. Antarctic satellite temperatures show no warming for 37 years. The Southern Ocean around Antarctica has cooled markedly since 2006. Sea ice has increased substantially, especially since 2012. Surface temperatures at 13 stations on or near the Antarctic Peninsula have been cooling sharply since 2006. Ocean temperatures have been plummeting since about 2007, sea ice has reached all-time highs, and temperatures have been cooling since 2000. The Larsen Ice Shelf Station has been cooling at an astonishing rate of 1.8°C per decade (18°C per century) since 1995.The thickness of most of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is more than 6000 ft (2000 m) and large areas are more than 10,000 ft (3000 m) thick. The importance of ice thickness is that virtually all of the ice sheet is considerably thicker than the depth below sea level to bedrock, so the ice is grounded and will not float. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melts away, where the ice is 10,000 ft thick, the land beneath will rebound isostatically several 1000 ft, bringing most of the subglacial bed above sea level.The Pine Island and Thwaites outlet glaciers are only about 30 miles across, so draining 2.2 million km3 of ice through their narrow channels or sending sea water 1000 miles under the ice sheet is not plausible. Studies of subglacial geothermal heat flow show that the area under the Thwaites glacier is unusually high and is the most likely cause of subglacial melting, rather than ocean water. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is not collapsing, the retreat of these small glaciers is not caused by global warming, and sea level is not going to rise 10 ft.