There is a lot in the media at the moment about the ‘collapse’ of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. See my previous blog post for more information. But when we talk about ‘ice sheet collapse’, what do we actually mean? When we talk of people ‘collapsing’, they fall down right in front of us in …
Marine ice sheet instability The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the world’s most vulnerable ice sheet. This is because it is grounded below sea level, and marine ice sheets such as these are susceptible to rapid melting at their base. Fast-flowing ice streams draining the WAIS (Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier in particular) …
How much sea level rise? | Climate change and rising sea levels | The West Antarctic Ice Sheet | How much sea level rise from Antarctica? | Comments | How much sea level rise? How much will global sea levels rise in our lifetime, or in the lifetime of our children? We need to know …
Dealing with uncertainty: predicting future sea level rise Read More »
How much ice is there in Antarctica? And if it were to melt, how much would global sea levels rise, and how quickly?
Introduction | Past evidence of ice sheet collapse | Hypothesis of marine ice sheet instability | References | Comments | Introduction In 1978, Mercer was one of the first to identify that rising temperatures could have catastrophic consequences in West Antarctica, triggering a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet[1]. This is because much of …
