Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Glaciers Flowing Faster

The WoT and WoD have not made much progress since their inception, but let us check in on the War on Global Warming. There might be some good news there:

Hundreds Of Antarctic Peninsula Glaciers Accelerating As Climate Warms
Science Daily — Hundreds of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula are flowing faster, further adding to sea level rise according to new research published this week in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Climate warming, that is already causing Antarctic Peninsula increased summer snow melt and ice shelf retreat, is the most likely cause.

Using radar images acquired by European ERS-1 and -2 satellites, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) tracked the flow rate of over 300 previously unstudied glaciers. They found a 12% increase in glacier speed from 1993 to 2003. These observations - that echo recent findings from coastal Greenland - indicate that the cause is melting of the lower glaciers, which flow directly into the sea. As they thin, the buoyancy of the ice can lift the glaciers off their rock beds, allowing them to slide faster.

::Sigh:: Or not.

1 comment:

Shimmy said...

Excellent post!