Friday, January 15, 2010

Major Antarctic Glacier Is 'Past Its Tipping Point'

A catastrophic collapse is imminent, according to the latest study
(Image: NASA/Jane Peterson, NSERC)

From New Scientist:

A major Antarctic glacier has passed its tipping point, according to a new modelling study. After losing increasing amounts of ice over the past decades, it is poised to collapse in a catastrophe that could raise global sea levels by 24 centimetres.

Pine Island glacier (PIG) is one of many at the fringes of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In 2004, satellite observations showed that it had started to thin, and that ice was flowing into the Amundsen Sea 25 per cent faster than it had 30 years before.

Read more ....

No comments: