Tag

Sea Level Rise

All articles tagged with #sea level rise

science4 days ago•4 min saved

Ancient Ocean Hidden Under West Antarctica Revealed by Deep Ice Drill

A multinational team drilled beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, reaching 523 meters of ice and 228 meters of ancient rock and sediment, and found marine organisms and shell fragments that indicate parts of the region were once open ocean. These findings shed light on past warmer climates over the last roughly 23 million years and could help improve predictions of future sea-level rise as the ice sheet retreat cycles are better understood.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#antarctica #climate-change #ice-sheet

earth-science6 days ago•15 min saved

Greenland’s Hidden Ice Boils with Pasta-Style Convection

New computer modeling of Greenland’s ice sheet suggests deep plume-like structures arise from thermal convection—a heat-driven, slow churning process that may make some ice softer than previously thought. While this explains the plumes, researchers caution softer ice alone doesn’t automatically mean faster melt or higher sea-level rise, and further studies are needed to understand the full implications for the ice sheet’s mass balance and coastal impacts.

via Gizmodo|

#earth-science #greenland #ice-sheet

science6 days ago•3 min saved

Deep Antarctic Drill Uncovers Ancient Open-Ocean Clues

Scientists drilled 523 meters through the Crary Ice Rise on the Ross Ice Shelf and recovered 228 meters of sediment, finding evidence that parts of West Antarctica were once open ocean as recently as about 23 million years ago. The findings help decode past ocean temperatures and environmental conditions to improve predictions of future ice loss and sea‑level rise; samples are being analyzed in New Zealand after transport from Antarctica.

via ScienceAlert|

#antarctica #ice-shelf #ocean-history

science11 days ago•7 min saved

Antarctica Reveals a 175-Million-Year-Old Subglacial Granite Giant

Researchers using gravity surveys and radiometric dating have uncovered a vast 100-km-wide, 7-km-thick granite deposit buried beneath Pine Island Glacier, dating to about 175 million years ago. The discovery sheds light on subglacial topography, ice-sheet dynamics, and could improve predictions of future sea-level rise.

via Indian Defence Review|

#antarctica #geology #ice-sheet

environment19 days ago•17 min saved

NASA opens 33-year weekly sea-level data to public, revealing faster rise and regional shifts

NASA has published 33 years of weekly sea-surface height maps from NASA-SSH, showing where the ocean surface sits above or below the long-term average to aid coastal risk monitoring. The data—derived from radar-altimeter measurements and gridded for comparability—reveal El Niño-driven swings and rapid local changes, but are anomalies with a two-week processing lag and coarse resolution (roughly 200 miles per cell). Long-term trends show accelerating sea-level rise, from about 0.2 cm/year in 1993 to about 0.46 cm/year in 2023, with 2024’s rise largely due to thermal expansion (~0.58 cm/year). The dataset supports research and planning but must be used with tide gauges, as local flooding depends on land motion and tides; NASA plans to extend the record and develop tools to translate anomalies into practical risk checks.

via Earth.com|

#climate-change #environment #nasa

science20 days ago•5 min saved

Drilling Into Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier Ends in Setback but Yields Key Data

Scientists drilling into Thwaites Glacier with a hot-water borehole faced their instruments getting stuck about three-quarters of the way down and had to abandon the deployment, but the data recovered reveal warm, turbulent waters beneath the ice driving sub-ice melt. The findings improve understanding of the glacier’s instability, and researchers plan to return to continue studying it, given its potential to raise global sea levels by about 65 cm if it destabilizes.

via Indian Defence Review|

#antarctica #borehole-drilling #ocean-warming

science24 days ago•35 min saved

Antarctica’s buried terrain mapped in unprecedented detail, reshaping sea‑level forecasts

Scientists mapped Antarctica’s subglacial terrain in unprecedented detail, revealing tens of thousands of previously unknown hills and ridges and a deep channel in the Maud Subglacial Basin about 50 meters deep, 6 kilometers wide, and 400 kilometers long; the work, published in Science and led by Helen Ockenden of Grenoble Alpes University, helps explain how buried features steer glacier flow and retreat and will refine predictions of future sea-level rise.

via Yahoo|

#antarctica #glaciers #maud-subglacial-basin

science28 days ago•1 min saved

Scientists Camp on Thwaites Glacier to Drill Into the Ocean Below

British and South Korean researchers camping on Thwaites Glacier aimed to begin a multi-day drill to lower instruments through half-mile ice into the ocean below, to study how bottom-up melting drives sea-level rise; fierce winds and heavy snow threaten equipment and could delay a mission that follows an eight-week voyage of the icebreaker Araon.

via The New York Times|

#antarctica #climate-change #glacier-drilling

environment28 days ago•4 min saved

Dutch court orders Bonaire climate-protection plan with binding targets

A Hague District Court ruled that the Dutch government must draft a climate-protection plan for Bonaire within 18 months and set binding emission-reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement, finding current measures discriminatory and insufficient as sea levels and extreme weather threaten the island by 2050. It also deemed the 2030 target of a 55% cut non-binding and unlikely to be met, and the ruling could set a precedent for similar cases, though the government can appeal.

via AP News|

#bonaire #climate-change #court-ruling

science1 month ago•1 min saved

Field Camp on Thwaites Glacier Launches Critical Ice‑Ocean Study

Weather delays finally allowed scientists to set up a field camp on Antarctica's fast-melting Thwaites Glacier. Over the coming weeks they will bore about half a mile into the ice to deploy instruments in the warming ocean beneath, seeking to understand how seawater is eroding the glacier and what its collapse could mean for global sea levels. The temporary camp includes ten single-occupancy tents, a science tent and two toilet tents after helicopter landings were previously blocked by clouds.

via The New York Times|

#antarctica #climate-science #glaciology

environment1 month ago•5 min saved

Hidden melt under Antarctica’s ice shelves could raise global sea levels

Antarctica’s ice shelves are melting from below as warming ocean water erodes their bases, a process that could accelerate inland ice loss and raise sea levels by metres. Nine-model synthesis estimates basal melting at about 843 billion tonnes per year, but data gaps leave large uncertainties about rate and regional impact, including potential effects on major ocean currents—emissions choices will largely determine future sea level rise.

via The Guardian|

#antarctica #basal-melt #climate-change

environment1 month ago•25 min saved

Hidden Greenland Sediments Could Accelerate Ice Melt and Sea-Level Rise

A seismic study using data from hundreds of stations finds thick, soft sediments beneath Greenland’s ice bed, enabling faster glacier movement than hard rock; the bed’s patchy distribution could speed ice loss and alter sea‑level forecasts, highlighting the need for denser bed mapping and integrated meltwater–flow models.

via Earth.com|

#environment #greenland #ice-melt

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Underground Greenland Layer Could Speed Up Global Sea-Level Rise

A UCSD-led study using earthquake-generated seismic waves reveals a complex, hidden bed beneath Greenland's ice that includes sediments and hard rock. This subsurface mosaic can alter ice flow, as smoother or weaker bases allow faster glacier movement, especially when meltwater reaches the base. The finding suggests Greenland's contribution to sea-level rise could accelerate faster than current models predict, underscoring the need for denser seismic networks and integrated ice-sheet models to improve forecasts.

via Indian Defence Review|

#geology #greenland #ice-sheet

science1 month ago•40 min saved

Antarctica’s hidden subglacial landscape mapped in unprecedented detail

Scientists have produced the most detailed map yet of the terrain beneath Antarctica’s ice, revealing mountains, canyons and tens of thousands of smaller features. Using high‑resolution satellite data and ice‑flow perturbation analysis, researchers mapped the entire continent to improve models of ice movement and forecasts of sea‑level rise.

via Reuters|

#antarctica #climate-change #environment

science1 month ago•33 min saved

Antarctic Ice Shelf Teeters Toward Collapse, Hinting at Record Sea-Level Rise

A new study finds cracks in Antarctica’s Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf have weakened its structure, with fracturing progressing in two phases over two decades. If the shelf collapses, global sea levels could rise by about 65 centimeters (roughly 2 feet) as the ice retreats at a rapid pace for decades. The Arctic is warming about three times faster than the global average, driving significant ice loss and shrinking sea ice, which NASA and other agencies have monitored for years. The report underscores the need for reducing pollution and changing human behavior to slow Arctic melt and mitigate future sea‑level rise.

via Yahoo|

#arctic-melt #ice-shelf #nasa