Latest news with #WestAntarcticIceSheet
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
West Antarctic Ice Sheet is on the verge of COLLAPSING - sparking 13 feet of irreversible global sea level rise, scientists warn
Containing around 750,000 cubic miles of ice – enough to fill Wembley stadium nearly 3 billion times – the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is a rich reservoir of precious frozen freshwater. Now, scientists warn that the vast natural feature is on the brink of a disastrous 'irreversible' collapse. The collapse would cause a devastating sea-level rise globally over the next few hundred years of 13 feet (4 metres), the experts say. And it could be triggered with ocean warming only slightly above the rate that we're seeing in the present day. 'As little as 0.25°C deep ocean warming above present-day can trigger the start of a collapse,' said study author David Chandler at Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE). 'With our present-day climate, the transition to the collapsed state will be slow, maybe 1,000 years, but it will likely be much faster if there is additional global warming.' In a future scenario of sea level rises, cities and towns are flooded more easily, meaning people would have to flee their homes and move further inland. Other small island nations might be gradually plunged underwater entirely, forcing inhabitants to emigrate. Ice sheets are masses of glacial ice extending more than 19,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometers). There are two ice sheets on Earth – the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Ice Sheet – and together they contain about 99 per cent of the freshwater on Earth. As the name suggests, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is the western segment of the latter – and is more strongly affected by climate change. And unlike its eastern counterpart, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet largely rests on the sea bed. In other words, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is sitting in water – and today this water is getting warmer and warmer due to global warming. 'Both East and West Antarctica have really thick ice – well over 3km (2 miles), even 4.9km (3 miles) at its thickest,' Chandler told MailOnline. 'West Antarctica is important for two reasons; first, if even a small fraction of all that ice melts it will cause devastating sea-level rise. 'Second, the ice sheet itself influences climate, so if you melt some of it, that could cause climate changes even as far away as Europe.' What is an ice sheet? An ice sheet is a a layer of ice covering an extensive tract of land - more than 20,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometers). The two ice sheets on Earth today cover most of Greenland and Antarctica. During the last ice age, ice sheets also covered much of North America and Scandinavia. Together, the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets contain more than 99 per cent of the freshwater ice on Earth. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center The research team – also including experts from academic institutions in the UK and Germany – ran model simulations through the glacial cycles over the last 800,000 years. During this period, the Earth's climate has switched several times between cold periods known as 'glacials' and warmer periods called 'interglacials'. Some of these past interglacials were likely warmer than our present-day climate and give a picture of how the vast Antarctic Ice Sheet could respond to future warming. During interglacials, warm ocean water would have melted and thinned out the floating ice shelves that surround and protect West Antarctic Ice Sheet, leaving it vulnerable. 'In the past 800,000 years, the Antarctic Ice Sheet has had two stable states that it has repeatedly tipped between,' said Chandler. 'One, with the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in place, is the state we are currently in. The other state is where the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has collapsed.' Because the heat needed to melt ice in Antarctica is supplied mostly by the ocean, the concern now is that warming waters from climate change will tip the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to the collapsed state again. Ice loss from this 'vast freshwater reservoir' could threaten coastal communities and the global economy if the ice volume decreases by just a few per cent. Once the ice sheet has tipped to the collapsed state, reversal back to the stable present-day state would need several thousands of years of relatively cool temperatures (at or below pre-industrial conditions). 'Once tipping has been triggered it is self-sustaining and seems very unlikely to be stopped before contributing to about four meters of sea-level rise – and this would be practically irreversible,' Chandler said. In 2023, experts at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will continue to increase its rate of melting over the rest of the century, no matter how much we reduce fossil fuel use. Even if greenhouse gas emissions are controlled to achieve the best possible scenario, melting of the ice sheet will continue to accelerate this century, at a speed three times faster than during the 20th century, the BAS team found. If it melts completely, the ice sheet will release enough water to raise sea levels worldwide by 17ft (5.3 metres). However, scientists say that it is 'only' likely to make them rise by 3.2ft (one metre) by the end of the century. Antarctica's ice sheets contain 70% of world's fresh water - and sea levels would rise by 180ft if it melts Antarctica holds a huge amount of water. The three ice sheets that cover the continent contain around 70 per cent of our planet's fresh water - and these are all to warming air and oceans. If all the ice sheets were to melt due to global warming, Antarctica would raise global sea levels by at least 183ft (56m). Given their size, even small losses in the ice sheets could have global consequences. In addition to rising sea levels, meltwater would slow down the world's ocean circulation, while changing wind belts may affect the climate in the southern hemisphere. In February 2018, Nasa revealed El Niño events cause the Antarctic ice shelf to melt by up to ten inches (25 centimetres) every year. El Niño and La Niña are separate events that alter the water temperature of the Pacific ocean. The ocean periodically oscillates between warmer than average during El Niños and cooler than average during La Niñas. Using Nasa satellite imaging, researchers found that the oceanic phenomena cause Antarctic ice shelves to melt while also increasing snowfall. In March 2018, it was revealed that more of a giant France-sized glacier in Antarctica is floating on the ocean than previously thought.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists observe concerning 'unexpected changes' in Antarctic ice shelf: 'Added an exclamation point to the ... narrative'
Scientists have used satellite technology to observe the collapse of a massive ice shelf in Antarctica, sounding alarm bells over the implications. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, scientists used satellite imagery to document and chronicle the collapse of the Conger-Glenzer ice shelf, which occurred in 2022 over the course of just a few days. The collapse was notable because the shelf was located in Eastern Antarctica, a region previously thought to be stable and less susceptible to this sort of failure. What they learned in studying data and imagery of the shelf over a 25-year period was that, rather than being caused by surface melt from rising temperatures, the Conger-Glenzer shelf collapsed because of ocean-induced thinning and structural weakening. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. In other words, warmer, salty ocean water ate away at the structure, destabilizing it in the years leading up to its collapse. Catherine Walker, an associate scientist who studied the collapse of Conger-Glenzer, noted that while ice shelf collapses have been documented before, the location and nature of this collapse was both notable and concerning. "Long considered more stable than the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, this event added an exclamation point to the accelerating narrative of unexpected changes being observed in East Antarctica," she said, per the ABC. Coastal ice shelves play an essential role in maintaining the state of Antarctica. They serve as a buffer to the ice shelf that sits in the continent's center, which would add a catastrophic 58 meters of water to the world's oceans if they were to fully melt. As the coastal shelves break apart, they allow more ocean water and more heat to reach the central continental shelf, which makes the specter of a full melt more tangible. The best thing we can do to protect the Antarctic is to reduce pollution. This can mean investing in clean energy over planet-heating natural gas or oil-based energy and pushing for legislation to help reduce methane and nitrous oxide pollution. Action can even be as simple as reducing your reliance on high-emission household items such as leaf blowers and lawnmowers, swapping those tools for quieter, lightweight electric ones instead. But a problem of this size is going to take collective, drastic action to fix, so supporting environmentally conscious politicians and leaders is essential. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists make ominous discovery about volcanoes beneath Antarctic ice sheet
Though the effects of melting ice sheets on sea level rise and changes in ocean salinity have been meticulously researched, how this impacts volcanic activity has been largely unstudied — until now. Research on melting glacial ice sheets and the resulting impact on volcanic chambers in the Earth's crust has revealed a startling positive feedback loop effect with alarming implications for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In the Antarctic, giant ice sheets averaging about 1.3 miles thick weigh heavily on the Earth's crust. However, as the ice melts, less weight bears down on the crust, causing it to shift upward, as summarized. The study — published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems and shared by AGU Publications — examined the effects of the shift on magma chambers by studying volcanic deposits from the Andes dating back 35,000 years. Findings suggest that when glacial melt occurs, the highly sensitive magma chambers within the crust are disturbed, which could trigger explosive volcanic eruptions in one of Earth's most significant volcanic areas. The research indicated that as ice sheets lose ice at increasing rates because of warming global temperatures, volcanic explosions could occur at increasing rates and intensity. Extensive melt speeds up the first volatile expulsion — the formation and expansion of gas, the first stage of an eruption — by tens to hundreds of years, per As a result of the high temperature and strength and close proximity to Antarctic ice, these volcanic eruptions, in turn, can accelerate the loss of glacial ice. Thus, a dangerous positive feedback loop can be created, with ice melt triggering more intense volcanic eruptions and more frequent volcanic eruptions hastening the disappearance of Antarctic ice sheets. The study's findings fill critical knowledge gaps that will make it easier for scientists to track the rate of ice sheet disintegration. Do you think our power grid needs to be upgraded? Definitely Only in some states Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Melting ice in both the Arctic and Antarctic has a huge impact on our planet. The Earth depends on ice sheets to reflect sunlight back into space to regulate temperature and create a stable climate. In fact, ice reflects 50% to 70% of the sun's energy away from the planet; without ice, much of that energy would be absorbed. Global sea levels are also impacted by melting ice. As ice melts, sea levels rise, eroding and submerging coastal communities and critical ecosystems and salinating water supplies. Meanwhile, warming temperatures exacerbate extreme weather events like hurricanes. Most importantly, studies like this one give us a better understanding of how and why ice sheets are melting so we can mitigate its causes and protect ourselves from its effects. While there isn't much the average person can do to immediately stop the melting of ice sheets, everyday actions to reduce one's carbon impact are a surefire way to at least slow its progress. One way individuals can reduce their carbon output is by changing transportation habits. Instead of driving, individuals can try walking, biking, or taking public transportation to avoid the pollution that would otherwise be produced by private vehicles. In fact, replacing any drive of two miles or less with walking or biking can save over 600 pounds of carbon from entering the Earth's atmosphere in a year. If opting for a different mode of transportation isn't feasible, there are plenty of other ways to decrease your carbon output. Growing your own food, composting, switching to a natural lawn, investing in energy-efficient devices, installing rooftop solar, and swapping a gas vehicle for an electric one are all excellent options, too. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
