Joughin, I., B. Smith, B. Medley,
Marine Ice Sheet Collapse Potentially Under Way for the Thwaites Glacier Basin, West Antarctica, Science 16 May 2014: Vol.
Joughin, I., Smith, B. E. & Medley, B.
Marine ice sheet collapse potentially under way for the Thwaites Glacier basin, West Antarctica.
Joughin, I., B. E. Smith, and B. Medley (2014),
Marine ice sheet collapse potentially under way for the Thwaites Glacier Basin, West Antarctica, Science, 344 (6185), 735 — 738.
Marine Ice Sheet Collapse Potentially Underway for the Thwaites Glacier Basin, West Antarctica
Take the Science paper: «
Marine Ice Sheet Collapse Potentially Under Way for the Thwaites Glacier Basin, West Antarctica.»
Given that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has a total sea level equivalent of 3.3 m1, with 1.5 m from Pine Island Glacier alone4,
marine ice sheet collapse could be a significant challenge for future generations, with major changes in rates of sea level rise being possible within just the next couple of hundred years.
Not exact matches
The glacier appears to be
collapsing due to
marine ice -
sheet instability.
In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that there wasn't sufficient evidence available to put an exact number on how much the
collapse of
marine - based
ice sheets could add to sea levels by 2100.
Ice shelf collapse and glacier recession here, in front of the large ice streams such as Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, would have potential to raise sea levels by tens of centimetres to a metre, through the process of marine ice sheet instability
Ice shelf
collapse and glacier recession here, in front of the large
ice streams such as Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, would have potential to raise sea levels by tens of centimetres to a metre, through the process of marine ice sheet instability
ice streams such as Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, would have potential to raise sea levels by tens of centimetres to a metre, through the process of
marine ice sheet instability
ice sheet instability23.
A
collapse of this
ice shelf could lead to
marine ice sheet instabilty and rapid global sea level rise.
John Mercer, in 1968 and 1970, called attention to the fact that the West Antarctic
Ice Sheet (WAIS) was grounded mostly below sea level, calling it a «marine ice sheet» that was therefore inherently unstable, and proposed that the higher sea level resulted from its LIM collapse 125,000 years a
Ice Sheet (WAIS) was grounded mostly below sea level, calling it a «marine ice sheet» that was therefore inherently unstable, and proposed that the higher sea level resulted from its LIM collapse 125,000 years
Sheet (WAIS) was grounded mostly below sea level, calling it a «
marine ice sheet» that was therefore inherently unstable, and proposed that the higher sea level resulted from its LIM collapse 125,000 years a
ice sheet» that was therefore inherently unstable, and proposed that the higher sea level resulted from its LIM collapse 125,000 years
sheet» that was therefore inherently unstable, and proposed that the higher sea level resulted from its LIM
collapse 125,000 years ago.
Only the
collapse of the
marine - based sectors of the Antarctic
ice sheet, if initiated, could cause GMSL to rise substantially above the likely range during the 21st century.
The main root of this threat is the potential
collapse of West Antarctica's
marine - based
ice sheets — massive expanses of glacial
ice that rest not on land but the ocean floor — in particular, those where warm ocean waters circulate nearby [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2013].
-RRB- concluded that there wasn't sufficient evidence available to put an exact number on how much the
collapse of
marine - based
ice sheets could add to sea levels by 2100.
In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that there wasn't sufficient evidence available to put an exact number on how much the
collapse of
marine - based
ice sheets could add to sea levels by 2100.
Although West Antarctica's fate is sealed, we may still be able to prevent the
collapse of East Antarctica's
marine ice sheet.
They did not account for modern observations in calibrating
marine ice -
sheet instability, or probe rates of
ice - cliff
collapse as fast as the fastest currently seen in Greenland.
However, the report notes that should sectors of the
marine - based
ice sheets of Antarctic
collapse, sea level could rise by an additional several tenths of a meter during the 21st century.
Based on current understanding, only the
collapse of
marine - based sectors of the Antarctic
Ice Sheet, if initiated, could cause global mean sea level to rise substantially above the likely range during the 21st century.