Antarctic ice collapse seems unstoppable

• Autores: Andy Coghlan
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2969, 2014, pág. 14
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet are already collapsing and probably can't be saved. Two studies suggest that several glaciers are doomed to fall into the ocean, causing meters of sea level rise over coming centuries. In one study, Ian Joughin of the University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues used radar to map the rocks beneath the Thwaites glacier, part of the ice sheet. This allowed them to determine where the glacier starts to rest on open water rather than on rock--the grounding line. The further inland the grounding line, the greater the risk of collapse. The other study, led by Eric Rignot of the University of California at Irvine, tracked the retreats between 1992 and 2011 of several major glaciers. Measured at their centers, Thwaites glacier had retreated 14 kilometers, Pine Island glacier by 31 kilometers, and the Smith-Kohier glacier system by 35 kilometers.