9,699
edits
Difference between revisions of "West Antarctic Ice Sheet"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Potential collapse
Westarctica (talk | contribs) (Created page with "thumb|Map showing the West and East Antarctic Ice Sheets The '''Western Antarctic Ice Sheet''' (WAIS) is the segment of the continental ice sheet tha...") |
Westarctica (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
Rapley said, "Parts of the [[Antarctic ice sheet]] that rest on bedrock below sea level have begun to discharge ice fast enough to make a significant contribution to sea level rise. Understanding the reason for this change is urgent in order to be able to predict how much ice may ultimately be discharged and over what timescale. Current computer models do not include the effect of liquid water on ice sheet sliding and flow, and so provide only conservative estimates of future behavior." | Rapley said, "Parts of the [[Antarctic ice sheet]] that rest on bedrock below sea level have begun to discharge ice fast enough to make a significant contribution to sea level rise. Understanding the reason for this change is urgent in order to be able to predict how much ice may ultimately be discharged and over what timescale. Current computer models do not include the effect of liquid water on ice sheet sliding and flow, and so provide only conservative estimates of future behavior." | ||
[[File:Pine-Island-Glacier-Chart.jpg|600px|thumb|center|Ice retreat and thinning since a warm pulse kicked off an irreversible melting in 1945]] | |||
Polar ice experts from the US and UK met at the University of Texas at Austin in March, 2007 for the West Antarctic Links to Sea-Level Estimation (WALSE) Workshop. The experts discussed a new hypothesis that explains the observed increased melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. They proposed that changes in air circulation patterns have led to increased upwelling of warm, deep ocean water along the coast of [[Antarctica]] and that this warm water has increased melting of floating ice shelves at the edge of the ice sheet. An ocean model has shown how changes in winds can help channel the water along deep troughs on the sea floor, toward the ice shelves of outlet glaciers. | Polar ice experts from the US and UK met at the University of Texas at Austin in March, 2007 for the West Antarctic Links to Sea-Level Estimation (WALSE) Workshop. The experts discussed a new hypothesis that explains the observed increased melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. They proposed that changes in air circulation patterns have led to increased upwelling of warm, deep ocean water along the coast of [[Antarctica]] and that this warm water has increased melting of floating ice shelves at the edge of the ice sheet. An ocean model has shown how changes in winds can help channel the water along deep troughs on the sea floor, toward the ice shelves of outlet glaciers. | ||