All articles tagged with #antarctic ice sheet
Scientists using satellite data discovered a 34-million-year-old landscape beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, offering insights into past climate cycles and potential future sea level rise, highlighting the importance of understanding ice sheet dynamics in the context of global warming.
Scientists observed a historic turnaround in the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which gained mass between 2021 and 2023 after years of loss, likely due to unusual precipitation, but caution that climate change remains a significant threat with potential for future sea level rise.
Scientists using satellite imagery discovered a 34-million-year-old landscape beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, offering insights into past climate cycles and potential future ice melt impacts, including significant sea level rise. The find provides a rare glimpse into Earth's geological history and emphasizes the importance of understanding ice dynamics in the context of global warming.
Researchers have developed a more accurate prediction of past Antarctic ice sheet melt, providing a realistic forecast of future sea level rise. By studying historical records and fossilized sea-level markers in Australia, the team determined that the Antarctic ice sheet contributed 9.8 meters to sea level during the Mid-Pliocene era, reducing previous estimates of global mean sea level rise by 2100 to between 5 and 9cm. The improved modeling will help inform policy and aid in the protection of coastal and low-lying communities vulnerable to even small changes in sea level.
Scientists have utilized Antarctic seals as "heroes" in mapping the ocean floor by attaching trackers to their heads. The deep-diving seals have revealed a massive underwater canyon over a mile deep in Vincennes Bay, Antarctica. This discovery may aid in predicting the response of the Antarctic ice sheet to climate change. Understanding the ocean geography and underwater features helps scientists understand past and future changes in the ice sheet and identify areas at higher risk of melting. The seals' annual shedding of fur ensures their well-being during the study.
Researchers from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration found that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet had been thinner in the past and had regrown, suggesting that glacial retreat could be reversed. The study used rock samples to show that ice near Thwaites Glacier was at least 35 meters thinner in the last 5000 years and took a minimum of 3000 years to reach its current size. However, this recovery timeframe poses concerns given the expected impact of sea level rise due to imminent climate change.