Satellite lasers show rapid thinning of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheetsSeptember 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Using satellite lasers, scientists have made the most comprehensive picture of the rapidly thinning glaciers along the coastline of both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Researchers from British Antarctic Survey and the University of Bristol describe how analysis of millions of NASA satellite measurements from both of these vast ice sheets shows that the most profound ice loss is a result of glaciers speeding up where they flow into the sea.
Scientists map melting history of Greenland's ice sheetSeptember 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have mapped the history of the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Numerous drillings have been made through both Greenland's ice sheet and small ice caps near the coast.
Scientists work to unravel what's behind Greenland's mysterious melt, at glacial paceSeptember 10th, 2009 Greenland's melt mystery unfolds, at glacial paceHELHEIM GLACIER, Greenland — Suddenly and without warning, the gigantic river of ice sped up, causing it to spit icebergs ever faster into the ocean off southeastern Greenland. The Helheim Glacier nearly doubled its speed in just a few years, flowing through a rift in the barren coastal mountains at a stunning 100 feet (30 meters) per day.
Retrieved ancient ice cores to help scientists assess risks of abrupt future climate changeAugust 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new international research effort on the Greenland ice sheet set a record for single-season deep ice-core drilling this summer, recovering more than a mile of ice core that is expected to help scientists better assess the risks of abrupt climate change in the future. The project, known as the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling, or NEEM, is being undertaken by 14 nations and is led by the University of Copenhagen.
Drilled ice core in Greenland may contain climate history of past 38,000 yearsAugust 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has drilled an ice core of altogether 1757.87 m length on the Greenland inland ice within 110 days, which is expected to contain data on climate history of about 38,000 years. This completed the first season of the international drilling project NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling) in north-western Greenland.
Antarctic glacier thinning four times faster than it was 10 years agoAugust 14th, 2009 LONDON - A new research has determined that one of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is thinning four times faster than it was 10 years ago. Professor Duncan Wingham of University College London (UCL) led the research team.
Sea to rise 5 metres as West Antarctic ice sheet meltsJuly 7th, 2009 SYDNEY - The melting of West Antarctic ice sheet, Antarctica's most vulnerable part, could raise global sea levels by up to five metres. "Polar ice sheets have grown and collapsed at least 40 times over the past five million years, causing major sea-level fluctuations," says Tim Naish, deputy director of Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre (ARC).
Glaciers can shrink "in a geologic instant"June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research by scientists has revealed that modern glaciers in deep ocean water can undergo periods of rapid retreat, where they can shrink even more quickly than has recently been observed. According to new findings by paleoclimatologists at the University at Buffalo (UB), US, modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat.
Sea-level rise may pose greatest threat to Northeast US and Canada this centuryMay 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax and other cities in the northeastern United States and Canada. The researchers suggest that moderate to high rates of ice melt from Greenland may shift ocean circulation by about 2100, causing sea levels off the northeast coast of North America to rise by about 30 to 51 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) more than other coastal areas.
America may be hit hardest by collapse of West Antarctic Ice SheetMay 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that a total or partial collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) as a result of global warming would lead to levels on the US seaboards to rise 25 percent more than the global average and threaten cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. The western ice sheet in Antarctica, known as WAIS, is of particular interest to scientists due to its inherent instability, a result of large areas of the continent's bedrock lying below sea level.
US coastal cities at risk if Antarctic ice sheet collapsesMay 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses due to global warming, it would directly threaten New York, Washington and San Francisco as sea levels near US coasts would rise by 25 percent more than the global average, according to a new study. Antarctica holds about nine times the volume of ice of Greenland.
Forecast for global sea level rise from Antarctic ice collapse scaled backMay 14th, 2009 Researchers scale back forecast of sea level riseWASHINGTON — The global sea level will only rise about 10 feet if the West Antarctic ice sheet collapses. While that may not sound so great to residents of coastal cities like New York or Los Angeles, it's only about half the previously predicted rise.
Antarctica's ice cover was much larger 10,000 years ago than it is todayMay 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New Antarctic seabed sonar images have revealed that the extent of ice covering the continent of Antarctica at the end of the last ice age around 10,000 years ago was much larger than it is today, which could help scientists to predict future sea-level rise. Using sonar technology from onboard ships, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the German Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) captured the most extensive, continuous set of images of the seafloor around the Amundsen Sea embayment ever taken.
Rising climate warning affecting stability of West Antarctic Ice SheetMarch 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New evidence has emerged which determines that even a slight rise in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, one of the gases that drives global warming, affects the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The massive WAIS covers the continent on the Pacific side of the Transantarctic Mountains.
Sea level rise to threaten 1 in 10 humans in low-lying coastal areas by 2100March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New research has indicated that rising sea levels due to global warming would have major impacts around the world, with a maximum rise of one meter by 2100 endangering one in ten humans in low lying coastal areas. The research, presented at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen shows that the upper range of sea level rise by 2100 could be in the range of about one meter, or possibly more.
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