News tagged with antarctic ice sheets

Research reveals ice sheet stability in West Antarctica under threat

(Phys.org) -- An international team of researchers has warned that the stability of a part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is potentially under threat following a survey of the Institute and Möller ice streams.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Climate scientists discover new weak point of the Antarctic ice sheet

The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf fringing the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, may start to melt rapidly in this century and no longer act as a barrier for ice streams draining the Antarctic Ice Sheet. These predictions ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 09, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (20) | comments 43 | with audio podcast

Antarctic octopus tells story of ice-sheet collapse

Scientists have long been concerned that the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet could collapse if global temperatures keep climbing. If it did, sea levels are predicted to rise by as much as five meters.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 07, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (13) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Study finds warm ocean currents cause majority of ice loss from Antarctica

Reporting this week in the journal Nature, an international team of scientists led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has established that warm ocean currents are the dominant cause of recent ice loss from A ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Global sea level likely to rise as much as 70 feet for future generations

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends, future generations will have to deal with sea levels 12 to 22 meters (40 to 70 ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Mar 19, 2012 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (32) | comments 256 | with audio podcast

New research lowers estimate of ancient sea-level rise

The seas are creeping higher as the planet warms. But how high will they go? Projections for the year 2100 range from inches to several feet, or more. The sub-tropical islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas contain ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Scientists successfully complete Antarctic drilling project

A new ice core successfully drilled from the Antarctica Peninsula last month (January) may shed new light on how the vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has responded to climate change in the past.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists drill two miles down to ancient Lake Vostok

(PhysOrg.com) -- Russian scientists last week finished penetrating more than two miles through the Antarctic ice sheet to Lake Vostok, a huge freshwater lake that has been buried under the ice for millions ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0

Study shows global glaciers, ice caps, shedding billions of tons of mass annually

Earth's glaciers and ice caps outside of the regions of Greenland and Antarctica are shedding roughly 150 billion tons of ice annually, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Image: Crack discovered in Pine Island Glacier

(PhysOrg.com) -- In mid-October 2011, NASA scientists working in Antarctica discovered a massive crack across the Pine Island Glacier, a major ice stream that drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Extending ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 5

Tropical sea temperatures influence melting in Antarctica

Accelerated melting of two fast-moving outlet glaciers that drain Antarctic ice into the Amundsen Sea Embayment is likely the result, in part, of an increase in sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, according ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Simultaneous ice melt in Antarctic and Arctic

The end of the last ice age and the processes that led to the melting of the northern and southern ice sheets supply basic information on changes in our climate. Although the maximum size of the ice sheet in the northern ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 02, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 3

Plunge in CO2 put the freeze on Antarctica

Plunge in CO2 put the freeze on AntarcticaAtmospheric carbon dioxide levels plunged by 40% before and during the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet 34 million years ago, according to a new study. The finding helps solv ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 24 | with audio podcast

Taking the pulse of an iceberg -- scientists simulate laser imaging for NASA missions

Monitoring glaciers and ice sheets is complicated work. They move and change shape. They melt.

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 29, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains enigma unraveled in East Antarctica

The birth of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains buried beneath the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet – a puzzle mystifying scientists since their first discovery in 1958 – is finally solved. The remarkably ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast