Antarctic ice sheets may be melting faster, study says

A new model from researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggests that Antarctica’s ice shelves may be melting faster.

This will contribute to faster sea level rise, as published in the journal Science Advances.

The model takes into account the narrow ocean current along the coast Antarctica which is often overlooked and mimics how fast-flowing fresh water melting off ice shelves can hold hot, dense ocean water at the base of the ice, causing it to heat up and melt even more.

Ice shelves are outcrops of the Earth’s ice cap. Antarctica several hundred meters thick each, which are found where ice protrudes from the land and floats on the ocean. They act as a protective buffer against continental ice, preventing the entire ice sheet from draining into the ocean, which would dramatically raise global sea levels.

However, the warming of the atmosphere and oceans caused by climate change is increasing the rate at which these ice shelves are melting, jeopardizing their ability to slow the flow of the ice sheet into the ocean.

“If this mechanism that we’re studying is active in the real world, it could mean that the rate of ice shelves melt is 20 to 40 percent faster than global climate model predictions, which typically don’t.” coast of Antarctica,” says Andy Thompson, professor of environmental science and engineering.

More drastic changes

In this study, led by lead investigator Mara Flexas, researchers focused on one area Antarctica: West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). Antarctica it is roughly disk-shaped, except that the PAB protrudes from high polar latitudes into lower, warmer latitudes. Right here Antarctica experiencing the most dramatic changes due to climate change.

The team has previously deployed autonomous vehicles in the region, and scientists used data from elephant seals with instruments to measure the temperature and salinity of the water and ice.

The team’s model takes into account the narrow Antarctic coastal current that runs counterclockwise through the entire Antarctic continent, a current that many climate models ignore because it is very small.

“Large global climate models do not include this coastal current because it is very narrow: only about 20 kilometers wide, while most climate models only cover currents of 100 kilometers or more,” Flexas explains. may not accurately reflect future melting rates.”

The model illustrates how fresh water melting from ice in PAO is carried by coastal currents and transported across the continent. Less dense fresh water moves rapidly near the ocean surface and holds relatively warm, salty ocean water at the bottom of ice shelves. This causes the ice shelves to melt from below.

Accelerating Ice Shelf Loss

Thus, an increase in meltwater in PAO can propagate climate warming through coastal currents, which in turn can also increase meltwater even on ice shelves in PAO. Antarctica Western thousands of kilometers from the peninsula.

This remote heating mechanism may be one of the reasons for the volume loss of ice shelves due to Antarctica The West has accelerated in recent decades.

“There are aspects of the climate system that we are still discovering,” says Andy Thompson, professor of environmental science and engineering. “As we improve our ability to model the interactions between the ocean, ice shelves and the atmosphere, we can do more.” accurate forecasts with better uncertainty limits. We may have to revise some of the sea level rise projections in the next few decades or in the next century – that’s work we’ll do in the future.”

(According to Europe Press)

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