Antarctica Is Melting Like Never Before
A new paper has emerged with fresh data from NASA providing a visual of Antarctica’s rapidly melting ice.
A new paper has emerged with fresh data from NASA providing a visual of Antarctica’s rapidly melting ice.
As the ice sheets of the world melt, an enormous amount of pressure will be lifted off of the continental crusts that play host to them, as well as the surrounding oceanic basins. Something similar is broadly true, but to a much lesser degree, of the world’s remaining large glaciers (think of the Himalayas).
The ice sheets of Antarctica may be hiding the world’s largest volcanic range, according to a new study from the University of Edinburgh. The new work discovered around 100 “new” volcanos in the Antarctic region, some of which are as tall as 3,850 meters.
A portion of West Antarctica over twice the size of the US state of California partially melted in 2016 as the result of high temperatures brought by an especially pronounced El Niño, compounded by a rapidly warming climate, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications.
One of the key glaciers in West Antarctica, as far as the stability of the ice sheet there, Pine Island Glacier, was the site of an enormous 225-square mile iceberg calving in 2015. New research from Ohio State University has determined that this event was even more notable than first thought, as it was the result of a deep, subsurface crack that had formed approximately 20 miles inland — nowhere directly near the calving event.
New research has revealed that West Antarctica is actually warming nearly two times faster than was previously thought. This finding suggests, therefore, that sea levels may rise much faster than was previously predicted. The average annual temperatures in West Antarctica, at the Byrd research station, have increased an incredible … [continued]