MEXICO: Warmer water is eating away at the protective wall of ice around the Antarctic coast faster than previously thought, research has revealed.
The new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the breaking away of icebergs, or “calving”, is causing Antarctic ice shelves to shrink more rapidly than ever before.
Between 1996 and 2006, global warming had been the driving force behind the retreat of Antarctic ice shelves, responsible for a 34 per cent increase in the discharge of grounded ice.
This continued discharge of ice into the ocean is occurring at an alarming rate of 118 billion tonnes per year which equates to a rise in the world’s oceans by approximately one third of a millimetre a year.
The phenomenon is “leading to an increase in sea level”, according to the study’s co-author Rupert Gladstone from the University of Tasmania.
These ice shelves, which can range from a few hundreds of metres to well over a kilometre in thickness, float in the ocean but remain attached to the main Antarctic Ice Sheet, acting as the “buttressing … to hold back the grounded ice sheet”.An example of ‘calving’, which is occurring more rapidly in Antarctica.
“An increase in calving will generally result in a reduction in buttressing, [which] generally means an increase in discharge of grounded ice,” Mr Gladstone said.
Before global warming, the shrinking of ice shelves was compensated for by the growth of larger ice shelves, but rising sea temperatures has thrown this delicate system out of balance.
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