Antarctica

West Antarctica’s History of rapid Melting Foretells sudden Shifts in Continent’s ‘catastrophic’ Geology

Much of the discussion about the melting of massive ice sheets during a time of climate change addresses its effects on people

Antarctica

“We cannot Negotiate with the Melting Point of Ice:” World’s Ice Sheets shed 640 bn. Tons in 12 Months

The Conversation

Chris Stokes, Durham University; Florence Colleoni, National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), and James Kirkham, British Antarctic Survey “We cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice.” That’s the message from more than 50 leading scientists who study the Earth’s frozen regions, published in the latest annual State of the Cryosphere report. In […]

Antarctica

Three Things that might Trigger massive Ice Sheet Collapse

The Conversation

By Inès Otosaka, Northumbria University, Newcastle (The Conversation) – The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are highly vulnerable to global warming and scientists are being increasingly worried about the possibility of large parts of the ice sheets collapsing, if global temperatures keep on rising. Scientists have identified three elements that could be triggered, putting the […]

Antarctica

We’ll all Feel the Abrupt Changes Striking Antarctica Sea Ice and Ocean Currents

The Conversation

By Nerilie Abram, Australian National University; Ariaan Purich, Monash University; Felicity McCormack, Monash University; Jan Strugnell, James Cook University, and Matthew England, UNSW Sydney (The Conversation) – Antarctica has long been seen as a remote, unchanging environment. Not any more. The ice-covered continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean are undergoing abrupt and alarming changes. Sea […]

Antarctica

Melting Antarctic Ice will slow the World’s strongest Ocean Current – and the global Consequences are Profound

The Conversation

By Taimoor Sohail, The University of Melbourne and Bishakhdatta Gayen, The University of Melbourne Flowing clockwise around Antarctica, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest ocean current on the planet. It’s five times stronger than the Gulf Stream and more than 100 times stronger than the Amazon River. It forms part of the global ocean […]

Antarctica

1/4 to 1/2 of Glaciers will Melt by 2100, raising Sea Level, As our burning of Fossil Fuels Heats Earth

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new multi-author study in Nature finds that the world’s 200,000 glaciers are melting at an increasingly alarming rate. If all of them melted, it would raise sea level by over a foot, a disaster for coastal communities around the world. And it isn’t just a matter of coasts — […]

Antarctica

A Single Antarctic heatwave or storm can Noticeably Raise the Sea Level

The Conversation

By Edward Hanna

Antarctica

Winter Sea Ice in Antarctica’s Southern Ocean is in Disturbing Decline: 200 Scientists Sound Alarm

The Conversation

By Andrew J Constable, University of Tasmania and Jess Melbourne-Thomas, CSIRO | – (The Conversation) – While the Southern Ocean around Antarctica has been warming for decades, the annual extent of winter sea ice seemed relatively stable – compared to the Arctic. In some areas Antarctic sea ice was even increasing. That was until 2016, […]

Antarctica

Fractured Foundations: how Antarctica’s ‘landfast’ Ice is Dwindling and why that’s bad News

The Conversation

By Alexander Fraser, University of Tasmania; Christine Weldrick, University of Tasmania; Laura Dalman, University of Tasmania; Matthew Corkill, University of Tasmania and Pat Wongpan, University of Tasmania | – There’s more to Antarctic ice than meets the eye. Sea ice is not a uniform crust overlying the salty Southern Ocean. Our new research is the […]