Scientist have said that a Texas-sized piece of the Antarctic ice sheet is thinning, possibly due to global warming. According to polar ice experts this could cause a significant rise in the level of the world's oceans.
They said "surprisingly rapid changes" were occurring in Antarctica's Amundsen Sea Embayment, which faces the southern Pacific Ocean, but that more study was needed to know how fast it was melting and how much it could cause the sea level to rise.
The warning came in a joint statement issued at the end of a conference of U.S. and European polar ice experts at the University of Texas in Austin.
The scientists blamed the melting ice on changing winds around Antarctica that they said were causing warmer waters to flow beneath ice shelves.
The warning came in a joint statement issued at the end of a conference of U.S. and European polar ice experts at the University of Texas in Austin.
The scientists blamed the melting ice on changing winds around Antarctica that they said were causing warmer waters to flow beneath ice shelves.
According to them, the wind change, appeared to be a result of several factors, which include global warming, atmospheric ozone depletion and natural variability.
The thinning in the two-mile-(3.2-km)- thick ice shelf is being observed mostly from satellites. Scientist do not know exactly how much ice has been lost, due to the fact that data is difficult to obtain on the remote ice shelves.
There is a study focusing on the Amundsen Sea Embayment because it has been melting quickly and scientist believe this area holds enough water to raise the world's sea level by some six meters, or close to 20 feet.
Taken from: http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN2834740720070329?pageNumber=2
The thinning in the two-mile-(3.2-km)- thick ice shelf is being observed mostly from satellites. Scientist do not know exactly how much ice has been lost, due to the fact that data is difficult to obtain on the remote ice shelves.
There is a study focusing on the Amundsen Sea Embayment because it has been melting quickly and scientist believe this area holds enough water to raise the world's sea level by some six meters, or close to 20 feet.
Taken from: http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN2834740720070329?pageNumber=2
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