Since 2009,, scientists from France, the UK, Germany, and France reported this week that a huge section of Antarctica has seen a drastic drop in ice volume. It is approximately 60 km long. This means it sheds around 55 trillions of litres per year. According to the University of Bristol’s research team, the Southern Antarctic Peninsula glaciers had shown no change since six years ago. They were stable and showed no sign of changing until then. Science published the study of these researchers. The ocean is melting faster than ever before, and more of the ice is being broken off. Image: Utrecht University. This particular type of Antarctica’s ice loss is the second biggest contributor to rising sea levels. The study’s co-author, Dr. Bert Wouters (Mary Curie Fellow) at Bristol said that the glaciers have added approximately 300 km of water to ocean waters. That’s the equivalent of the volume of nearly 350,000 Empire State Buildings combined.” Dr. Wouters and colleagues used information from observations by the CryoSat-2, a European Space Agency (ESA) environmental research satellite that was launched in 2010, dedicated to remote-sensing of ice. From its 700km orbit, the satellite emits an electromagnetic pulse that reaches the Earth’s surface. This is specifically for polar ice. After the pulse has been bounced back to satellite, it is recorded again. The satellite’s instruments are able to determine the elevation of the ice by measuring the time it takes for the pulse to reach the ice. The Southern Antarctic Peninsula glaciers are losing their altitude. After analyzing five years of data, they discovered that several of the Southern Antarctic Peninsula’s glaciers were experiencing a drop in ice thickness of up to four metres per year. According to GRACE data (Gravity Recovery & Climate Experiment), which was a joint mission by NASA and Germany’s Aerospace Center, the ice in this region has been so severe that it has had a marginal effect on the Earth’s gravity field. This image was taken on Livingstone Island, near Antarctic Peninsula. It shows some of the ice that has been removed from a glacier. The ice will eventually melt and slide into the ocean. Image: University of Bristol. Dr. Wouters stated that it was a surprising discovery to discover how many glaciers across such large areas suddenly began to lose their ice. The rapid response of the glacier shows that the dynamic regime has completely changed in just a few short years. This is according to an Antarctic climate model data. The region is home to many glaciers that feed into the sea’s ice shelves. These ice shelves act as the last obstacle by slowing the flow of ice that has been stuck to the bedrock farther inland towards the ocean. Warmer water pushing to South Pole: Stronger westerly winds As a result of climate change and depletion, they have grown stronger in the past few decades. Warmer seawater is being pushed toward South Pole by stronger winds. This causes melting of the floating ice shelves and glaciers below. Over the last twenty years, the thickness of the ice shelves on the Southern Antarctic Peninsula has fallen to almost one-fifth. This means that the resistance force against the glaciers has been further diminished. Concerningly, much of the glacier ice that is grounded on sub-sea level bedrock further inland is also of concern. Warm seawater will continue to flow in the inland direction and melt glaciers even if they are retreating. Dr Wouters said: “It seems that somewhere around 2009,, the ice shelf was thinning and subsurface melting of glaciers reached a critical threshold. This triggered sudden ice loss.” The Southern Peninsula, however, is not as well-studied as other Antarctica regions. This could be because the subsurface melting of glaciers and ice shelf geometry have failed to change in recent years. “The cause must now be determined. To determine how long the glacier thinning continues, it is important to have a detailed understanding of the geometries of local ice shelves and the ocean floor topography. Science. “Dynamic melting of the Southern Antarctic Peninsula glaciers.” Publié May 21, 2015. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa5727. Massive Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses According to a separate study by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (California), a large Antarctic ice shelves – Larsen B, is rapidly weakening and could collapse entirely and disappear completely before the end of the decade. 2002. Larsen B partly collapsed It is now flowing at a much higher speed and becoming increasingly fragmented. There are also massive cracks. Researchers added that two of its three tributary glaciers are moving much faster than the others and thinned rapidly. Video: Huge Antarctic Ice Loss
