‘Reduction in Antarctic glacier ice could increase sea level’
By IANSTuesday, June 22, 2010
LONDON - Reduction of the ice mass in the Pine Island Glacier in the Antarctic Ocean could cause 10 percent of the global rise in sea level, experts have said.
A study conducted by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the National Oceanography Centre (LDEO) said thinning ice in this region is the main cause of global sea level rise, Prensa Latina reported.
Pine Island Glacier is the largest ice stream flowing into the sea. It is grounded on a 984,25 feet underwater ridge, which slows down its flow into the sea. But, in recent decades, the glacier has thinned and become disconnected from the ridge, allowing the ice to move more rapidly from the land to the sea.
This disconnection has caused continuous thinning and acceleration of the glacier, the study said.
The scientists, however, do not know as to what kickstarted the beginning of the retreat from the ridge. But they did find out that it started some time prior to 1970, the study’s lead author Adrian Jenkins of British Antarctic Survey, said.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
