Snowfall-driven growth in East Antarctic ice sheet mitigates recent sea-level rise.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Satellite radar altimetry measurements indicate that the East Antarctic ice-sheet interior north of 81.6 degrees S increased in mass by 45 +/- 7 billion metric tons per year from 1992 to 2003. Comparisons with contemporaneous meteorological model snowfall estimates suggest that the gain in mass was associated with increased precipitation. A gain of this magnitude is enough to slow sea-level rise by 0.12 +/- 0.02 millimeters per year.
منابع مشابه
Mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet.
The Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise has long been uncertain. While regional variability in ice dynamics has been revealed, a picture of mass changes throughout the continental ice sheet is lacking. Here, we use satellite radar altimetry to measure the elevation change of 72% of the grounded ice sheet during the period 1992-2003. Depending on the density of the snow giving rise to the o...
متن کاملCombustion of available fossil fuel resources sufficient to eliminate the Antarctic Ice Sheet
The Antarctic Ice Sheet stores water equivalent to 58 m in global sea-level rise. We show in simulations using the Parallel Ice Sheet Model that burning the currently attainable fossil fuel resources is sufficient to eliminate the ice sheet. With cumulative fossil fuel emissions of 10,000 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC), Antarctica is projected to become almost ice-free with an average contribution ...
متن کاملMid-Holocene pulse of thinning in the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet
Establishing the trajectory of thinning of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) since the last glacial maximum (LGM) is important for addressing questions concerning ice sheet (in)stability and changes in global sea level. Here we present detailed geomorphological and cosmogenic nuclide data from the southern Ellsworth Mountains in the heart of the Weddell Sea embayment that suggest the ice shee...
متن کاملPotential Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat driven by hydrofracturing and ice cliff failure
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Keywords: ice sheet Antarctica sea level subglacial basin ice cliff hydrofracture Geological data indicate that global mean sea level has fluctuated on 10 3 to 10 6 yr time scales during the last ∼25 million years, at times reaching 20 m or more above modern. If correct, this implies substantial variations in the size of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS)....
متن کاملKey Antarctic mission goes ahead
As the Antarctic summer arrives an international team of researchers is set to embark on a mission to study two vast subglacial basins in eastern Antarctica that are both little studied but of potentially huge importance for sea levels under climate change. The polar regions are expected to warm significantly as a result of human-induced climate change because of positive feedback associated wi...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Science
دوره 308 5730 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2005