David Vaugn on predicting how Antarctic ice sheets behave
Image by Ben Holt Sr.
Scientists meeting in Austin, Texas in late March 2007 announced that the West Antarctic ice sheet is thinning rapidly. They spoke of “surprisingly rapid changes” in the Amundsen Sea Embayment region.
Antarctica holds 90 percent of the world’s ice, so scientists are concerned about its potential to add even more water to the world’s oceans.
In its recent Summary for Policy Makers, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that sea level will rise by anywhere from 20 to 60 centimeters by the end of the 21st century. One of the biggest uncertainties, they said, is in how the ice sheets of Antarctica will behave.
Earth & Sky’s Jorge Salazar spoke with David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey, when he was in Austin to meet with 20 other polar scientist at the University of Texas Jackson School of Geosciences. In this podcast, Vaughan discusses the fate of the West Antarctic ice sheet. To hear it, press the listen button above.
Scientists say Antarctica ice sheet is thinning from ABC news.
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Once the ice caps melt so much as to cause a desalinization in the oceans and the currents to change….which can lead to an ice age again as the warm waters are not reaching that far North anymore…
My question is…if an ice age develops…and that water gets taken back into ice…doesn’t that change the currents back again so as to start bringing warmer water back to those regions?
hi i think that ice is relly cool!!