“Ocean heat eats away at the ice, the grounding line retreats inland, and ice shelves lose mass. The other factor is that, below the floating ice at the edges of the ice sheet, ocean currents can deliver warm water to the underside of the ice-especially the “grounding line”-the point where the ice first begins to float.Īccording to NASA, the warm water sets off a chain reaction. One of the big contributing factors is that the majority of the ice sheet is resting, or “grounded,” on land that lies well below sea level. NASA’s primer on the region offers a helpful explanation of why this area is so unstable. In particular, satellite and ground-based observations of the glaciers and floating ice surrounding the Pine Island Bay area reveal that much of the ice in the area has seen significant flow acceleration-meaning more ice is flowing into the ocean-since the 1970s. Exposed to both air and ocean changes at that position, the ice sheet is particularly vulnerable to warming. Why on Earth are climate scientists so interested in the West Antarctic ice sheet? This remote region of the seventh continent has been the subject of many recent research explorations-the results of which have been described in the news with words like “collapse,” “irreversible,” and “huge.”Īntarctica’s West Antarctic Ice Sheet, pictured at right, has two massive ice slabs (the Ronne and Ross Ice Shelves) and many smaller, flat ice plates that sit right at sea level, afloat on the Southern Ocean.
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