Ladywriter 7,783 Report post Posted January 17, 2008 faster than 10 yrs ago The measurements, which surveyed the coasts of nearly the entire continent, suggest that climate models underestimate how quickly Antarctica responds to ongoing global warming, said study co-author Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol in England. They found that for Antarctica overall, the ice loss increased about 75 percent over the ten-year period, from 112 gigatons of ice per year in 1996 to 196 gigatons of ice per year in 2006. As to whether Antarctica will lose or gain ice as global warming proceeds, the measurements disagree with existing climate models that suggest "[the ice sheet] is going to get bigger because of increased snowfall with warming temperatures," Bamber said. "We don't see that. We see the ice sheet losing mass," he said. "So there's a bit of a paradigm shift in what the ice sheet has done recently and what it could do in the future." Scientists are concerned the melting ice will contribute to a dangerous sea level rise. The "most likely explanation" for the increased ice loss is that warming waters are melting away ice at the grounding point, according to Bamber. "That's causing the buttressing effect of the ice shelves to be less [effective], and that's allowing the glaciers to flow faster into the ocean," he said. Antarctica Snowfall Not Curbing Sea Level Rise Look at the flowers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Myk JL 1,731 Report post Posted January 18, 2008 Thus life will suck even more eventually... Those who fight deplorables should see to it that they themselves do not become deplorables. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
