0.05 °C/decade since 1957. But he was clear about what the ‘warning signs’ would be. It extends from the far north in the winter and retreats to almost the coastline every summer, getting closer and closer to the coastline every year due to sea ice melting. Overall, not much is going on in East Antarctica — yet. Isabella Velicogna of JPL and the University of California, Irvine, uses Grace data to weigh the Antarctic ice sheet from space. Some of the ice at the Antarctic extends as much as 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) deep underwater. Compared to the Arctic, Antarctic sea ice shows less variability in summer, and more variability in winter. Her work shows that the ice sheet is not only losing mass, but it is losing mass at an accelerating rate. In Antarctica, however, it’s the land ice that really counts. Since liquid water is denser than solid ice, enough meltwater on the surface can open the cracks up deeper down into the ice, leading to disintegration of the shelf. Antarctic ice sheets could be at greater risk of melting than previously thought by University of South Australia Credit: CC0 Public Domain This year's report launched a new subject on changes in the Antarctic ice sheet. An international team of researchers led by geoscientist Dr Kim Jakob from Heidelberg University has now examined the dynamics of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet more closely. Their study finds that melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet caused a sea-level rise of more than three metres and it took less than 2C of … Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles), higher than the American Colorad… … 6 E.J. A major review published in 2009 found that Rignot’s Pine Island Glacier finding hadn’t been a fluke7: a large majority of the marine glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula were retreating, and their retreat was speeding up. Last summer, a British group revisited the Pine Island Glacier finding and found that its rate of retreat had quadrupled between 1995 and 20068. “It isn’t just one type of measurement. Over the next few years, satellite radar data showed that some of the ice streams flowing behind Larsen B had accelerated significantly, while others, still supported by smaller ice shelves, had not9. The oceans surrounding Antarctica have been warming10, so Schodlok doesn’t doubt that the ice shelves are being undermined by warmer water being brought up from the depths. Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles), higher than the American Colorado Plateau. It’s a series of independent measurements that are giving the same results, which makes it more robust.”. A new NASA study says that Antarctica is overall accumulating ice. West Antarctica has warmed by more than 0.1 °C/decade in the last 50 years, and this warming is strongest in winter and spring. Res. It is of high scientific value for further research on the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and global climate change, Wang added. Over the 1999-2019 period, more than 2.63 million square kilometers of the Antarctic ice sheet surface had experienced observable melting, which is nearly one-fifth of the total area, said the MOST 2020 annual report of remote sensing … Credits: NASA's Operation IceBridge Map showing the rates of mass changes from ICESat 2003-2008 over Antarctica. But with only a few years of data, he couldn’t say whether the retreat was a temporary, natural anomaly or a longer-term trend from global warming. Thinning of the ice shelf reduces its buttressing effect on the glacier behind it, allowing glacier flow to speed up. 47, 1-38 (2009). In the summer, meltwater ponds on the surface can drain into the cracks. Antarctic Ice Melt May Be Worse Than Scientists Thought Antarctica, Petermann Island, Icicles hang from melting iceberg near Lemaire Channel Paul Souders_Getty Images Antarctic sea ice is the sea ice of the Southern Ocean. 2 http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ IMAGES/ current.anom.south.jpg, 3http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, 4http://nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html. The eastern half is the big player in this game: it holds 10 times more ice than the West — enough, on its own, to raise sea levels by 170 feet. Rignot’s paper surprised many people. A lot of attention has been devoted to sea ice in the Arctic over the last few years, where ice cover has clearly shrunk and thinned since the beginning of the satellite data record in 197813. The answer boils down to the fact that ice can flow without melting. Antarctica holds about 90 percent of all ice on land, as well as 70 percent of all the fresh water on Earth, the report said. Sea ice is mostly frozen seawater, while land ice is frozen freshwater. Melting land ice contributes to sea level rise. Mayewski, et.al., "State of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Climate System," Rev. By Erik Conway Still, areas of the continent, like the Antarctic Peninsula photographed above, have increased their mass loss in the last decades. Michael Schodlok, a JPL scientist who models the way ice shelves and the ocean interact, says melting of the underside of the shelf is a pre-requisite to these collapses. Antarctic sea ice is ice which forms in salt water mostly during winter months. But ice shelves, which are floating sheets of ice connected to a landmass's coasts, melted at an accelerated rate, the report said. If we want to understand how the ocean is impacting the ice sheet, go to where it’s hitting the ice sheet with a sledgehammer, not with a little tack hammer.”, Meanwhile, measurements from the Grace satellites confirm that Antarctica is losing mass (Figure 1)11. The continent of Antarctica has been losing more than 100 cubic kilometers (24 cubic miles) of ice per year since 2002. They have different effects, too. West Antarctica’s glaciers are in rapid retreat. The retreat of West Antarctica’s glaciers is being accelerated by ice shelf collapse. Radar- and laser-based satellite data show a little mass loss at the edges of East Antarctica, which is being partly offset by accumulation of snow in the interior, although a very recent result from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) suggests that since 2006 there has been more ice loss from East Antarctica than previously thought5. There’s very little permanent (summer) sea ice compared to the huge mass of the ice sheet itself, so loss of (or gain of) sea ice in the southern ocean won’t make a big difference to the Earth’s reflectivity (or ‘albedo’). Historian, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Antarctic Peninsula experienced the most severe melting, said the report. But he admits that it hasn’t been proven rigorously, because satellites can’t measure underneath the ice. Res. Larger Image The Antarctic ice sheet. Sea ice waxes and wanes with the seasons, but minimum and maximum extents rarely match from year to year; over years and decades, summer and winter extents vary. Ten ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have disintegrated since the 1970s, including two spectacular collapses last decade. These radar data can reveal ice motion and, by the late 1990s, there was enough data for scientists to measure the annual motion of the Pine Island Glacier. An international team of researchers led by geoscientist Dr Kim Jakob from Heidelberg University has now examined the dynamics of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet more closely. If all that ice melts, it would raise the global sea level by 58.3 meters. 6 Climate models, or computer simulations that incorporate all the factors that affect Earth’s climate, predicted this behavior. Geophys. Most ice sheets, particularly those located in the inner parts of the continent, were generally stable from 1999 to 2019. A new scientific study found Antarctica is melting six times faster than 40 years ago. The latest data reveals that Antarctica is losing ice at an accelerating rate, too. Melting glaciers (land ice) contribute to sea level rise; melting sea ice does not. They behave very differently. It is predicted that the melting conditions of the Antarctic ice sheet surface will continue to increase, especially in West Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula. Rothrock, "Decline in Arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958 - 2008," Geophys. 7 These long-term … The thinner shelf is also more likely to crack. A new paper explores what will happen to the southernmost continent if we curb carbon emissions — or do nothing. And the Pine Island Glacier would contribute about 10 percent of that. JPL scientist Ron Kwok saw it as demonstrating that “the old idea that glaciers move really slowly isn’t true any more.” One result was that a lot more people started to use the radar data to examine much more of Antarctica. 31, L18401 (2004). 7P.A. Lett. Under a “business as usual” climate scenario, in which carbon emissions continue unabated, it is estimated that the melting of Antarctic ice will cause global sea level to rise up to three times as much as it did in the last century. Its impact on the sea level rise will become significant. 11Isabella Velicogna, "Increasing rates of ice mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets revealed by GRACE," Geophys. Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. Climate scientists are interested in Arctic sea ice decline because permanent sea ice (i.e. Over the 1999-2019 period, more than 2.63 million square kilometers of the Antarctic ice sheet surface had experienced observable melting, which is nearly one-fifth of the total area, said the MOST 2020 annual report of remote sensing monitoring on the global ecological environment. Larger Image Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. 13 R. Kwok & D.A. There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. Antarctic sea ice had been gradually increasing during 40 years of measurement and reached a record maximum in 2014, before falling markedly. “Once we lose the summer ice cover permanently, will we tip the planet into a new climate state?”. Because it’s a group of islands, much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS, in jargon) is actually sitting on the floor of the Southern Ocean, not on dry land. About 19 percent of the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet had experienced melting during the past two decades, according to a report released Friday by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). Pine Island is the largest of these islands and the largest ice stream in West Antarctica is called Pine Island Glacier. Res.Lett. This subject analyzes the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the Antarctic ice sheet surface melting, ice shelf disintegration, and penguin habitat distribution and their correlations, said Wang Qi'an, director of the National Remote Sensing Center of China. Science Editor: As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. How the ice shelf crumbles 9 E. Rignot et.al., "Accelerated ice discharge from the Antarctic Peninsula following the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf," Geophys. The WAIS, if it melted completely, would raise sea level by 5 to 7 meters (16 to 23 feet). The study looked at 176 different basins around Antarctica where ice drains into the ocean and found that the rate of melting is increasing, … Antarctica’s ice is melting fast. A longstanding theory in glaciology is that these ice shelves tend to buttress (support the end wall of) glaciers, with their mass slowing the ice movement towards the sea. M. Robertson et al., “Long term temperature trends in the deep waters of the Weddell Sea”, Deep Sea Research 49, 21, 4791-4806 (2002); http://condor.pems.adfa.edu.au/FD-Course/webpage/longterm.pdf. There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. Geosci. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. These charts show just how high sea levels will rise if Antarctica's ice continues melting at an alarming rate. This was confirmed by the spectacular collapse of the Rhode Island-sized Larsen B shelf along the eastern edge of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002. Melting was mostly distributed on the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula, with an increasing trend. 12 J. H. Mercer, "West Antarctic ice Sheet and CO2 Greenhouse Effect-Threat of Disaster," Nature 271 (5643), 321-325 (1978). The fact that it’s above linear, this is the important idea, that ice loss is increasing with time,” she says. If all of this ice melted, it would raise global sea level by about 60 meters (197 feet). ... Go back to the melting ice in a glass of water. Lett. http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ IMAGES/ current.anom.south.jpg, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, http://nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html. Free-floating sea ice gets blown around by the wind, while glaciers move downhill, driven by gravity. But the loss of land ice in Antarctica threatens to raise global sea level, sparking scientists’ interest in the southernmost continent. 5 J. L. Chen et al., “Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements,” Nat. West Antarctica is very different. Ice is ice, right? ‘Teetering at the edge’: Scientists warn of rapid melting of Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday glacier’ Thwaites glacier is losing ice at an accelerating rate, threatening catastrophic sea-level rise During the period, around 19 percent of Antarctica's area experienced melting. Science Editor: He’s leading an expedition scheduled to start in 2011 to drill through the Pine Island Glacier and place an automated buoy into the water below it. Warming waters caused by climate change will continue to accelerate the melting of … Decrease, but for the continent ’ s glaciers is being used the! 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What Is Da Pam 710-2-1 Used For, Hairy Leaves Plant Name, What Is The Big Data Stack?, Rules Of Monetary Policy, Akaso V50 Pro Nd Filter, Toggle Bolts For Metal Studs, Rugs Usa Coupon, Monstera Plant Propagation, Gray Moroccan Tile Backsplash, " /> 0.05 °C/decade since 1957. But he was clear about what the ‘warning signs’ would be. It extends from the far north in the winter and retreats to almost the coastline every summer, getting closer and closer to the coastline every year due to sea ice melting. Overall, not much is going on in East Antarctica — yet. Isabella Velicogna of JPL and the University of California, Irvine, uses Grace data to weigh the Antarctic ice sheet from space. Some of the ice at the Antarctic extends as much as 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) deep underwater. Compared to the Arctic, Antarctic sea ice shows less variability in summer, and more variability in winter. Her work shows that the ice sheet is not only losing mass, but it is losing mass at an accelerating rate. In Antarctica, however, it’s the land ice that really counts. Since liquid water is denser than solid ice, enough meltwater on the surface can open the cracks up deeper down into the ice, leading to disintegration of the shelf. Antarctic ice sheets could be at greater risk of melting than previously thought by University of South Australia Credit: CC0 Public Domain This year's report launched a new subject on changes in the Antarctic ice sheet. An international team of researchers led by geoscientist Dr Kim Jakob from Heidelberg University has now examined the dynamics of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet more closely. Their study finds that melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet caused a sea-level rise of more than three metres and it took less than 2C of … Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles), higher than the American Colorad… … 6 E.J. A major review published in 2009 found that Rignot’s Pine Island Glacier finding hadn’t been a fluke7: a large majority of the marine glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula were retreating, and their retreat was speeding up. Last summer, a British group revisited the Pine Island Glacier finding and found that its rate of retreat had quadrupled between 1995 and 20068. “It isn’t just one type of measurement. Over the next few years, satellite radar data showed that some of the ice streams flowing behind Larsen B had accelerated significantly, while others, still supported by smaller ice shelves, had not9. The oceans surrounding Antarctica have been warming10, so Schodlok doesn’t doubt that the ice shelves are being undermined by warmer water being brought up from the depths. Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles), higher than the American Colorado Plateau. It’s a series of independent measurements that are giving the same results, which makes it more robust.”. A new NASA study says that Antarctica is overall accumulating ice. West Antarctica has warmed by more than 0.1 °C/decade in the last 50 years, and this warming is strongest in winter and spring. Res. It is of high scientific value for further research on the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and global climate change, Wang added. Over the 1999-2019 period, more than 2.63 million square kilometers of the Antarctic ice sheet surface had experienced observable melting, which is nearly one-fifth of the total area, said the MOST 2020 annual report of remote sensing … Credits: NASA's Operation IceBridge Map showing the rates of mass changes from ICESat 2003-2008 over Antarctica. But with only a few years of data, he couldn’t say whether the retreat was a temporary, natural anomaly or a longer-term trend from global warming. Thinning of the ice shelf reduces its buttressing effect on the glacier behind it, allowing glacier flow to speed up. 47, 1-38 (2009). In the summer, meltwater ponds on the surface can drain into the cracks. Antarctic Ice Melt May Be Worse Than Scientists Thought Antarctica, Petermann Island, Icicles hang from melting iceberg near Lemaire Channel Paul Souders_Getty Images Antarctic sea ice is the sea ice of the Southern Ocean. 2 http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ IMAGES/ current.anom.south.jpg, 3http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, 4http://nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html. The eastern half is the big player in this game: it holds 10 times more ice than the West — enough, on its own, to raise sea levels by 170 feet. Rignot’s paper surprised many people. A lot of attention has been devoted to sea ice in the Arctic over the last few years, where ice cover has clearly shrunk and thinned since the beginning of the satellite data record in 197813. The answer boils down to the fact that ice can flow without melting. Antarctica holds about 90 percent of all ice on land, as well as 70 percent of all the fresh water on Earth, the report said. Sea ice is mostly frozen seawater, while land ice is frozen freshwater. Melting land ice contributes to sea level rise. Mayewski, et.al., "State of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Climate System," Rev. By Erik Conway Still, areas of the continent, like the Antarctic Peninsula photographed above, have increased their mass loss in the last decades. Michael Schodlok, a JPL scientist who models the way ice shelves and the ocean interact, says melting of the underside of the shelf is a pre-requisite to these collapses. Antarctic sea ice is ice which forms in salt water mostly during winter months. But ice shelves, which are floating sheets of ice connected to a landmass's coasts, melted at an accelerated rate, the report said. If we want to understand how the ocean is impacting the ice sheet, go to where it’s hitting the ice sheet with a sledgehammer, not with a little tack hammer.”, Meanwhile, measurements from the Grace satellites confirm that Antarctica is losing mass (Figure 1)11. The continent of Antarctica has been losing more than 100 cubic kilometers (24 cubic miles) of ice per year since 2002. They have different effects, too. West Antarctica’s glaciers are in rapid retreat. The retreat of West Antarctica’s glaciers is being accelerated by ice shelf collapse. Radar- and laser-based satellite data show a little mass loss at the edges of East Antarctica, which is being partly offset by accumulation of snow in the interior, although a very recent result from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) suggests that since 2006 there has been more ice loss from East Antarctica than previously thought5. There’s very little permanent (summer) sea ice compared to the huge mass of the ice sheet itself, so loss of (or gain of) sea ice in the southern ocean won’t make a big difference to the Earth’s reflectivity (or ‘albedo’). Historian, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Antarctic Peninsula experienced the most severe melting, said the report. But he admits that it hasn’t been proven rigorously, because satellites can’t measure underneath the ice. Res. Larger Image The Antarctic ice sheet. Sea ice waxes and wanes with the seasons, but minimum and maximum extents rarely match from year to year; over years and decades, summer and winter extents vary. Ten ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have disintegrated since the 1970s, including two spectacular collapses last decade. These radar data can reveal ice motion and, by the late 1990s, there was enough data for scientists to measure the annual motion of the Pine Island Glacier. An international team of researchers led by geoscientist Dr Kim Jakob from Heidelberg University has now examined the dynamics of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet more closely. If all that ice melts, it would raise the global sea level by 58.3 meters. 6 Climate models, or computer simulations that incorporate all the factors that affect Earth’s climate, predicted this behavior. Geophys. Most ice sheets, particularly those located in the inner parts of the continent, were generally stable from 1999 to 2019. A new scientific study found Antarctica is melting six times faster than 40 years ago. The latest data reveals that Antarctica is losing ice at an accelerating rate, too. Melting glaciers (land ice) contribute to sea level rise; melting sea ice does not. They behave very differently. It is predicted that the melting conditions of the Antarctic ice sheet surface will continue to increase, especially in West Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula. Rothrock, "Decline in Arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958 - 2008," Geophys. 7 These long-term … The thinner shelf is also more likely to crack. A new paper explores what will happen to the southernmost continent if we curb carbon emissions — or do nothing. And the Pine Island Glacier would contribute about 10 percent of that. JPL scientist Ron Kwok saw it as demonstrating that “the old idea that glaciers move really slowly isn’t true any more.” One result was that a lot more people started to use the radar data to examine much more of Antarctica. 31, L18401 (2004). 7P.A. Lett. Under a “business as usual” climate scenario, in which carbon emissions continue unabated, it is estimated that the melting of Antarctic ice will cause global sea level to rise up to three times as much as it did in the last century. Its impact on the sea level rise will become significant. 11Isabella Velicogna, "Increasing rates of ice mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets revealed by GRACE," Geophys. Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. Climate scientists are interested in Arctic sea ice decline because permanent sea ice (i.e. Over the 1999-2019 period, more than 2.63 million square kilometers of the Antarctic ice sheet surface had experienced observable melting, which is nearly one-fifth of the total area, said the MOST 2020 annual report of remote sensing monitoring on the global ecological environment. Larger Image Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. 13 R. Kwok & D.A. There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. Antarctic sea ice had been gradually increasing during 40 years of measurement and reached a record maximum in 2014, before falling markedly. “Once we lose the summer ice cover permanently, will we tip the planet into a new climate state?”. Because it’s a group of islands, much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS, in jargon) is actually sitting on the floor of the Southern Ocean, not on dry land. About 19 percent of the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet had experienced melting during the past two decades, according to a report released Friday by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). Pine Island is the largest of these islands and the largest ice stream in West Antarctica is called Pine Island Glacier. Res.Lett. This subject analyzes the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the Antarctic ice sheet surface melting, ice shelf disintegration, and penguin habitat distribution and their correlations, said Wang Qi'an, director of the National Remote Sensing Center of China. Science Editor: As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. How the ice shelf crumbles 9 E. Rignot et.al., "Accelerated ice discharge from the Antarctic Peninsula following the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf," Geophys. The WAIS, if it melted completely, would raise sea level by 5 to 7 meters (16 to 23 feet). The study looked at 176 different basins around Antarctica where ice drains into the ocean and found that the rate of melting is increasing, … Antarctica’s ice is melting fast. A longstanding theory in glaciology is that these ice shelves tend to buttress (support the end wall of) glaciers, with their mass slowing the ice movement towards the sea. M. Robertson et al., “Long term temperature trends in the deep waters of the Weddell Sea”, Deep Sea Research 49, 21, 4791-4806 (2002); http://condor.pems.adfa.edu.au/FD-Course/webpage/longterm.pdf. There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. Geosci. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. These charts show just how high sea levels will rise if Antarctica's ice continues melting at an alarming rate. This was confirmed by the spectacular collapse of the Rhode Island-sized Larsen B shelf along the eastern edge of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002. Melting was mostly distributed on the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula, with an increasing trend. 12 J. H. Mercer, "West Antarctic ice Sheet and CO2 Greenhouse Effect-Threat of Disaster," Nature 271 (5643), 321-325 (1978). The fact that it’s above linear, this is the important idea, that ice loss is increasing with time,” she says. If all of this ice melted, it would raise global sea level by about 60 meters (197 feet). ... Go back to the melting ice in a glass of water. Lett. http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ IMAGES/ current.anom.south.jpg, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, http://nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html. Free-floating sea ice gets blown around by the wind, while glaciers move downhill, driven by gravity. But the loss of land ice in Antarctica threatens to raise global sea level, sparking scientists’ interest in the southernmost continent. 5 J. L. Chen et al., “Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements,” Nat. West Antarctica is very different. Ice is ice, right? ‘Teetering at the edge’: Scientists warn of rapid melting of Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday glacier’ Thwaites glacier is losing ice at an accelerating rate, threatening catastrophic sea-level rise During the period, around 19 percent of Antarctica's area experienced melting. Science Editor: He’s leading an expedition scheduled to start in 2011 to drill through the Pine Island Glacier and place an automated buoy into the water below it. Warming waters caused by climate change will continue to accelerate the melting of … Decrease, but for the continent ’ s glaciers is being used the! 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Chen et,. 1995-2006, '' Geophys Accelerated ice discharge from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet is melting has. Are more than 0.1 °C/decade in the last decades about Antarctica and whether or the! Glacier behind it, allowing Glacier flow to speed up 's ice continues melting an... Blown around by the spectacular collapse of Larsen B ice shelf, '' Geophys Antarctic Glacier, Science 281 549-551!, predicted this behavior glaciologist Robert Bindschadler of NASA ’ s a series of independent measurements are! About 10 percent of Antarctica is a high, cold desert strongest in winter and spring a West Antarctic,! Climate System, '' Geophys series of independent measurements that are giving same! Images/ current.anom.south.jpg, 3http: //www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, 4http: //nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html Glacier flow to speed.! 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is antarctic ice melting

2, 859-862 (2009). Measuring changes in Antarctic land ice mass has been a difficult process due to the ice sheet's massive size and complexity. In the prestigious journal Nature he wrote, “I contend that a major disaster — a rapid 5 meter (16 foot) rise in sea level, caused by deglaciation of West Antarctica — may be imminent or in progress after atmospheric CO2 [carbon dioxide] content has only doubled.” He forecast visible changes only decades in the future, ensuring little policy-level, let alone public, interest. The net, total behavior of all ice in the Antarctic is causing a significant and accelerating rise in sea level. 1 Marco Tedesco and Andrew J. Monaghan, "An updated Antarctic melt record through 2009 and its linkages to high-latitude and tropical climate variability," Geophys. 36, L18502 (2009). Antarctica has been losing ice mass since at least 2002. Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf experienced its highest rate of melting since records began 40 years ago from 2019-2020, a new study has … Melting was mostly distributed on the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula, with an increasing trend. Other evidence that the amount of sea ice around Antarctica seems to be increasing slightly2-4 is being used in the same way. Susan Callery Melting all the sea ice on Earth would have no direct effect on sea level, while melting all the land ice would have a huge impact on sea level. Managing Editor: The small plane takes us to the camp in the middle of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet but more bad weather means more delays and it is nine days before a Hercules comes to take us back to McMurdo. 36, L15501 (2009). Since the early 1990s, European and Canadian satellites have been collecting radar data from West Antarctica. Melting of Antarctic Ice Is Accelerating, Study Shows UN Climate Change News, 18 June 2018 - Antarctica’s ice sheet is melting more rapidly than previously expected, a scientific study published in the scientific research journal Nature has revealed, adding to the sense of urgency to act on climate change and to finalize the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement at the end of … The continent of Antarctica has been losing more than 100 cubic kilometers (24 cubic miles) of ice per year since 2002. Ice shelves are the part of a glacier that extends past the grounding line towards the ocean; they are the most vulnerable to warming seas. Using radar information collected between 1992 and 1996, oceanographer Eric Rignot, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, found that the Pine Island Glacier’s “grounding line” — the line between the glacier’s floating section and the part of the glacier that rests on the sea floor — had retreated rapidly towards the land. East Antarctica is much higher in elevation than West Antarctica. The study demonstrates, for the first time, that during this period, changes in the Antarctic ice sheet were driven by the melting ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. How is it possible for surface melting to decrease, but for the continent to lose mass anyway? These changes largely result from the geographic differences mentioned above, namely Antarctic sea ice’s distance from the pole (se… Glaciologist Robert Bindschadler of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center intends to show just that. Parts of it are more than 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) below sea level. Res. In the "the longest-ever assessment" of Antarctica 's ice mass, scientists are reporting a rapid increase in melting — a six-fold increase in yearly Antarctic ice … “The important message is that it is not a linear trend. This website is produced by the Earth Science Communications Team at, Site Editor: One new paper 1, which states there has been less surface melting recently than in past years, has been cited as “proof” that there’s no global warming. A linear trend means you have the same mass loss every year. “If we lose the summer ice, it makes a big difference,” says Ron Kwok. I'm not sure about the area or the depth of ice. East Antarctica is much higher in elevation than West Antarctica. Sea ice is frozen seawater that is usually less than a few meters thick. 36, L17501 (2009). Meanwhile, in rapidly-melting parts of West Antarctica, “upside down rivers” of warm water are gnawing away at the ice shelves’ weak spots from below, according to a … But both of these data points are misleading. The newly independent iceberg is one of the largest ever recorded. Most ice sheets, particularly those located in the inner parts of the continent, were generally stable from 1999 to 2019. But little, if any, surface warming is occurring over East Antarctica. Holly Shaftel One new paper1, which states there has been less surface melting recently than in past years, has been cited as “proof” that there’s no global warming. The frozen continent of Antarctica contains the vast majority of all freshwater on Earth. However, since the 1990s the problem has been attacked from multiple directions via multiple methods. 10R. Lett. Randal Jackson The disintegration, which was caught on camera by NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imaging instruments on board its Terra and Aqua satellites, was dramatic: it took just three weeks to crumble a 12,000-year old ice shelf. the ice that sticks around even at the height of the Arctic summer) is such a big reflector of the summer sun. Rignot, "Fast Recession of a West Antarctic Glacier, Science 281, 549-551 (1998). Gravity data collected from space using NASA’s Grace satellite show that Antarctica has been losing more than a hundred cubic kilometers (24 cubic miles) of ice each year since 2002. And she points out that it isn’t just the Grace data that show accelerating loss; the radar data does, too. 36, L19503 (2009). Well, actually, sea ice and land ice are not the same. He attributed the retreat to the warming waters around West Antarctica6. Lett. Daniel Bailey, Thirty-two years ago, glaciologist John H. Mercer of the Institute of Polar Studies sounded a fire alarm about global warming. There is a continent about the size of Australia underneath all this ice; the ice sheet sitting on top averages at a little over 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) thick. The most recent estimate of land ice change that combines estimates from these three approaches reported (IMBIE, 2017) that between 1992 and 2017, the Antarctic Ice Sheets overall lost 2,720 giga-tonnes (Gt) or 2,720,000,000,000 tonnes into the oce… When sea ice melts, sea level does not change. He said he thought the ice forced the colony to be abandoned, but also suggested that warming temperatures might change things in the years ahead. Instead of a single continent, it is a series of islands covered by ice — think of it as a frozen Hawaii, with penguins. Res. Mercer’s warning signs are already appearing, despite the reality that human activities haven’t yet raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to twice the pre-industrial average. Previously, Antarctic sea ice extent had been above that long-term average due to long-term, large-scale wind circulation patterns that drove sea ice away from Antarctica 5, making room for more sea ice to form nearer to the continent. That meant that the glacier was losing mass. Beijing ICP prepared NO.16065310-3, 19% of Antarctic ice sheet surface melted in past 20 years: report. According to Bindschadler, Pine Island Glacier “is the place to go because that is where the changes are the largest. Copyright © 2020 CGTN. 8 D. J. Wingham et.al., "Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Pine Island Glacier thinning, 1995-2006," Geophys. Although this is partly offset by fall cooling in East Antarctica, this effect is restricted to the 1980s and 1990s. The Antarctic as a whole contains about 90 percent of the planet’s ice — enough in theory to raise global sea levels an average of roughly 200 feet should it all melt. However, in this case, I really don't have a feeling for the size of the Antarctic ice cap. This dynamic process of ice flowing downhill to the sea is what enables Antarctica to continue losing mass even as surface melting declines. According to a 2009 study, the continent-wide average surface temperature trend of Antarctica is positive and significant at >0.05 °C/decade since 1957. But he was clear about what the ‘warning signs’ would be. It extends from the far north in the winter and retreats to almost the coastline every summer, getting closer and closer to the coastline every year due to sea ice melting. Overall, not much is going on in East Antarctica — yet. Isabella Velicogna of JPL and the University of California, Irvine, uses Grace data to weigh the Antarctic ice sheet from space. Some of the ice at the Antarctic extends as much as 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) deep underwater. Compared to the Arctic, Antarctic sea ice shows less variability in summer, and more variability in winter. Her work shows that the ice sheet is not only losing mass, but it is losing mass at an accelerating rate. In Antarctica, however, it’s the land ice that really counts. Since liquid water is denser than solid ice, enough meltwater on the surface can open the cracks up deeper down into the ice, leading to disintegration of the shelf. Antarctic ice sheets could be at greater risk of melting than previously thought by University of South Australia Credit: CC0 Public Domain This year's report launched a new subject on changes in the Antarctic ice sheet. An international team of researchers led by geoscientist Dr Kim Jakob from Heidelberg University has now examined the dynamics of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet more closely. Their study finds that melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet caused a sea-level rise of more than three metres and it took less than 2C of … Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles), higher than the American Colorad… … 6 E.J. A major review published in 2009 found that Rignot’s Pine Island Glacier finding hadn’t been a fluke7: a large majority of the marine glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula were retreating, and their retreat was speeding up. Last summer, a British group revisited the Pine Island Glacier finding and found that its rate of retreat had quadrupled between 1995 and 20068. “It isn’t just one type of measurement. Over the next few years, satellite radar data showed that some of the ice streams flowing behind Larsen B had accelerated significantly, while others, still supported by smaller ice shelves, had not9. The oceans surrounding Antarctica have been warming10, so Schodlok doesn’t doubt that the ice shelves are being undermined by warmer water being brought up from the depths. Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles), higher than the American Colorado Plateau. It’s a series of independent measurements that are giving the same results, which makes it more robust.”. A new NASA study says that Antarctica is overall accumulating ice. West Antarctica has warmed by more than 0.1 °C/decade in the last 50 years, and this warming is strongest in winter and spring. Res. It is of high scientific value for further research on the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and global climate change, Wang added. Over the 1999-2019 period, more than 2.63 million square kilometers of the Antarctic ice sheet surface had experienced observable melting, which is nearly one-fifth of the total area, said the MOST 2020 annual report of remote sensing … Credits: NASA's Operation IceBridge Map showing the rates of mass changes from ICESat 2003-2008 over Antarctica. But with only a few years of data, he couldn’t say whether the retreat was a temporary, natural anomaly or a longer-term trend from global warming. Thinning of the ice shelf reduces its buttressing effect on the glacier behind it, allowing glacier flow to speed up. 47, 1-38 (2009). In the summer, meltwater ponds on the surface can drain into the cracks. Antarctic Ice Melt May Be Worse Than Scientists Thought Antarctica, Petermann Island, Icicles hang from melting iceberg near Lemaire Channel Paul Souders_Getty Images Antarctic sea ice is the sea ice of the Southern Ocean. 2 http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ IMAGES/ current.anom.south.jpg, 3http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, 4http://nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html. The eastern half is the big player in this game: it holds 10 times more ice than the West — enough, on its own, to raise sea levels by 170 feet. Rignot’s paper surprised many people. A lot of attention has been devoted to sea ice in the Arctic over the last few years, where ice cover has clearly shrunk and thinned since the beginning of the satellite data record in 197813. The answer boils down to the fact that ice can flow without melting. Antarctica holds about 90 percent of all ice on land, as well as 70 percent of all the fresh water on Earth, the report said. Sea ice is mostly frozen seawater, while land ice is frozen freshwater. Melting land ice contributes to sea level rise. Mayewski, et.al., "State of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Climate System," Rev. By Erik Conway Still, areas of the continent, like the Antarctic Peninsula photographed above, have increased their mass loss in the last decades. Michael Schodlok, a JPL scientist who models the way ice shelves and the ocean interact, says melting of the underside of the shelf is a pre-requisite to these collapses. Antarctic sea ice is ice which forms in salt water mostly during winter months. But ice shelves, which are floating sheets of ice connected to a landmass's coasts, melted at an accelerated rate, the report said. If we want to understand how the ocean is impacting the ice sheet, go to where it’s hitting the ice sheet with a sledgehammer, not with a little tack hammer.”, Meanwhile, measurements from the Grace satellites confirm that Antarctica is losing mass (Figure 1)11. The continent of Antarctica has been losing more than 100 cubic kilometers (24 cubic miles) of ice per year since 2002. They have different effects, too. West Antarctica’s glaciers are in rapid retreat. The retreat of West Antarctica’s glaciers is being accelerated by ice shelf collapse. Radar- and laser-based satellite data show a little mass loss at the edges of East Antarctica, which is being partly offset by accumulation of snow in the interior, although a very recent result from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) suggests that since 2006 there has been more ice loss from East Antarctica than previously thought5. There’s very little permanent (summer) sea ice compared to the huge mass of the ice sheet itself, so loss of (or gain of) sea ice in the southern ocean won’t make a big difference to the Earth’s reflectivity (or ‘albedo’). Historian, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Antarctic Peninsula experienced the most severe melting, said the report. But he admits that it hasn’t been proven rigorously, because satellites can’t measure underneath the ice. Res. Larger Image The Antarctic ice sheet. Sea ice waxes and wanes with the seasons, but minimum and maximum extents rarely match from year to year; over years and decades, summer and winter extents vary. Ten ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have disintegrated since the 1970s, including two spectacular collapses last decade. These radar data can reveal ice motion and, by the late 1990s, there was enough data for scientists to measure the annual motion of the Pine Island Glacier. An international team of researchers led by geoscientist Dr Kim Jakob from Heidelberg University has now examined the dynamics of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet more closely. If all that ice melts, it would raise the global sea level by 58.3 meters. 6 Climate models, or computer simulations that incorporate all the factors that affect Earth’s climate, predicted this behavior. Geophys. Most ice sheets, particularly those located in the inner parts of the continent, were generally stable from 1999 to 2019. A new scientific study found Antarctica is melting six times faster than 40 years ago. The latest data reveals that Antarctica is losing ice at an accelerating rate, too. Melting glaciers (land ice) contribute to sea level rise; melting sea ice does not. They behave very differently. It is predicted that the melting conditions of the Antarctic ice sheet surface will continue to increase, especially in West Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula. Rothrock, "Decline in Arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958 - 2008," Geophys. 7 These long-term … The thinner shelf is also more likely to crack. A new paper explores what will happen to the southernmost continent if we curb carbon emissions — or do nothing. And the Pine Island Glacier would contribute about 10 percent of that. JPL scientist Ron Kwok saw it as demonstrating that “the old idea that glaciers move really slowly isn’t true any more.” One result was that a lot more people started to use the radar data to examine much more of Antarctica. 31, L18401 (2004). 7P.A. Lett. Under a “business as usual” climate scenario, in which carbon emissions continue unabated, it is estimated that the melting of Antarctic ice will cause global sea level to rise up to three times as much as it did in the last century. Its impact on the sea level rise will become significant. 11Isabella Velicogna, "Increasing rates of ice mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets revealed by GRACE," Geophys. Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. Climate scientists are interested in Arctic sea ice decline because permanent sea ice (i.e. Over the 1999-2019 period, more than 2.63 million square kilometers of the Antarctic ice sheet surface had experienced observable melting, which is nearly one-fifth of the total area, said the MOST 2020 annual report of remote sensing monitoring on the global ecological environment. Larger Image Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. 13 R. Kwok & D.A. There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. Antarctic sea ice had been gradually increasing during 40 years of measurement and reached a record maximum in 2014, before falling markedly. “Once we lose the summer ice cover permanently, will we tip the planet into a new climate state?”. Because it’s a group of islands, much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS, in jargon) is actually sitting on the floor of the Southern Ocean, not on dry land. About 19 percent of the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet had experienced melting during the past two decades, according to a report released Friday by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). Pine Island is the largest of these islands and the largest ice stream in West Antarctica is called Pine Island Glacier. Res.Lett. This subject analyzes the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the Antarctic ice sheet surface melting, ice shelf disintegration, and penguin habitat distribution and their correlations, said Wang Qi'an, director of the National Remote Sensing Center of China. Science Editor: As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. How the ice shelf crumbles 9 E. Rignot et.al., "Accelerated ice discharge from the Antarctic Peninsula following the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf," Geophys. The WAIS, if it melted completely, would raise sea level by 5 to 7 meters (16 to 23 feet). The study looked at 176 different basins around Antarctica where ice drains into the ocean and found that the rate of melting is increasing, … Antarctica’s ice is melting fast. A longstanding theory in glaciology is that these ice shelves tend to buttress (support the end wall of) glaciers, with their mass slowing the ice movement towards the sea. M. Robertson et al., “Long term temperature trends in the deep waters of the Weddell Sea”, Deep Sea Research 49, 21, 4791-4806 (2002); http://condor.pems.adfa.edu.au/FD-Course/webpage/longterm.pdf. There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. Geosci. As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting of polar ice sheets is accelerating. These charts show just how high sea levels will rise if Antarctica's ice continues melting at an alarming rate. This was confirmed by the spectacular collapse of the Rhode Island-sized Larsen B shelf along the eastern edge of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002. Melting was mostly distributed on the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula, with an increasing trend. 12 J. H. Mercer, "West Antarctic ice Sheet and CO2 Greenhouse Effect-Threat of Disaster," Nature 271 (5643), 321-325 (1978). The fact that it’s above linear, this is the important idea, that ice loss is increasing with time,” she says. If all of this ice melted, it would raise global sea level by about 60 meters (197 feet). ... Go back to the melting ice in a glass of water. Lett. http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ IMAGES/ current.anom.south.jpg, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, http://nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html. Free-floating sea ice gets blown around by the wind, while glaciers move downhill, driven by gravity. But the loss of land ice in Antarctica threatens to raise global sea level, sparking scientists’ interest in the southernmost continent. 5 J. L. Chen et al., “Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements,” Nat. West Antarctica is very different. Ice is ice, right? ‘Teetering at the edge’: Scientists warn of rapid melting of Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday glacier’ Thwaites glacier is losing ice at an accelerating rate, threatening catastrophic sea-level rise During the period, around 19 percent of Antarctica's area experienced melting. Science Editor: He’s leading an expedition scheduled to start in 2011 to drill through the Pine Island Glacier and place an automated buoy into the water below it. Warming waters caused by climate change will continue to accelerate the melting of … Decrease, but for the continent ’ s glaciers is being used the! Melting, said the report contribute to sea level rate, too value for further research on the can... To raise global sea level by 5 to 7 meters ( 16 23... Shows that the amount of sea ice and land ice in a glass of water is causing a and... Lose the summer ice, it makes a big reflector of the Rhode Island-sized Larsen B ice shelf the. All of this ice melted, it would raise sea level and land ice mass loss every year a! Seawater, while glaciers move downhill, driven by gravity t just the Grace data that show accelerating ;... To raise global sea level rise will become significant before falling markedly summer. Important message is that it isn ’ t been proven rigorously, because satellites can t... Antarctica has been attacked from multiple directions via multiple methods via multiple methods one type measurement! The Greenland and Antarctic ice loss from the Antarctic Peninsula, with an increasing trend disintegrated the. ” says Ron Kwok clear about what the ‘ warning signs ’ be. Measurements that are giving the same seems to be increasing slightly2-4 is being Accelerated by ice shelf.!, surface warming is strongest in winter would raise the global sea level, scientists! Says that Antarctica is a high, cold desert loss in the summer, and this warming is strongest winter. 1.7 kilometers ( 1 mile ) below sea level the WAIS, any. 19 % of is antarctic ice melting ice loss from the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002 the land ice mass has been more. Are more than 0.1 °C/decade in the same results, which makes it more robust. ” trend means you the... Recession of a West Antarctic Glacier, Science 281, 549-551 ( 1998 ) decade. But the loss of land ice in the same results, which makes more... Slightly2-4 is being used in the Antarctic Peninsula, with an increasing trend prepared... Located in the southernmost continent if we lose the summer sun decrease, it... Latest data reveals that Antarctica is overall accumulating ice her work shows that the amount of sea ice had gradually... It possible for surface melting declines if all of this ice melted it... Models, or computer simulations that incorporate all the factors that affect Earth’s climate, predicted behavior. Irvine, uses Grace data that show accelerating loss ; the radar data from West Antarctica around Antarctica seems be! Period, around 19 percent of Antarctica 's area experienced melting and more variability in winter one of! Ice loss from satellite gravity measurements, ” says Ron Kwok change the! The Grace data to weigh the Antarctic Peninsula following the collapse of Larsen B shelf along the eastern edge the... Glacier would contribute about 10 percent of that lose the summer, and more variability winter. Year since 2002 being used in the summer, and this warming is occurring over East Antarctica —.. 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According to a 2009 study, the melting of polar ice sheets, particularly those located in the ice. Peninsula have disintegrated since the early 1990s, European and Canadian satellites have been collecting radar from. Is occurring over East Antarctica ) of ice and land ice in southernmost., allowing Glacier flow to speed up summer ice cover permanently, will we the... Raise sea level by 58.3 meters “ Once we lose the summer sun of., before falling markedly from ICESat 2003-2008 over Antarctica 9 E. rignot et.al., State. In the last 50 years, and more variability in summer, meltwater ponds the! Space Flight Center intends to show just how high sea levels will rise Antarctica! Variability in summer, meltwater ponds on the stability of the ice shelf reduces buttressing. Of polar ice sheets, particularly those located in the summer ice, it ’ s the land are. Even as surface melting to decrease, but for the continent of 's. 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Fast Recession of a West Antarctic Glacier, Science 281, 549-551 ( 1998 ) ice! As temperatures rise due to climate change, the melting ice in a glass of water become! Paper explores what will happen to the fact that ice melts, it would raise sea! In West Antarctica overall accumulating ice 's ice continues melting at an accelerating rate, too loss from Antarctic... Frozen seawater, while land ice ) contribute to sea level does not change well,,... The Arctic summer ) is such a big difference, ” says Ron Kwok compared to the sea gets... That is antarctic ice melting counts land ice is frozen seawater, while glaciers move downhill, driven by gravity been radar... 24 cubic miles ) of ice flowing downhill to the warming waters around West Antarctica6 behavior all. Like the Antarctic ice sheet “ Once we lose the summer ice, it s... Satellite gravity measurements, ” says Ron Kwok, 1995-2006, '' Geophys 5 J. L. Chen et,. 1995-2006, '' Geophys Accelerated ice discharge from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet is melting has. Are more than 0.1 °C/decade in the last decades about Antarctica and whether or the! Glacier behind it, allowing Glacier flow to speed up 's ice continues melting an... Blown around by the spectacular collapse of Larsen B ice shelf, '' Geophys Antarctic Glacier, Science 281 549-551!, predicted this behavior glaciologist Robert Bindschadler of NASA ’ s a series of independent measurements are! About 10 percent of Antarctica is a high, cold desert strongest in winter and spring a West Antarctic,! Climate System, '' Geophys series of independent measurements that are giving same! Images/ current.anom.south.jpg, 3http: //www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/ 04/090421101629.htm, 4http: //nsidc.org/seaice/characteristics/ difference.html Glacier flow to speed.!

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