Sentences with phrase «collapsed sheet of ice»

A few days later, back at her office whiteboard, she thought about the collapsed sheet of ice above each lake, full of giant fractures like the ones above Grimsvotn.

Not exact matches

Computer model simulations have suggested that ice - sheet melting through warm water incursions could initiate a collapse of the WAIS within the next few centuries, raising global sea - level by up to 3.5 metres.»

She studies the mechanisms of ice sheet collapse, the origins of subglacial lakes, and their hidden ecosystems.

I spend a lot of time studying the ice sheets at the bottom of the planet — how they form and how they collapse.

As climate warmed, and the ice sheet collapsed, enormous amounts of methane were abruptly released.

SPEED UP The collapse of West Antarctica's glaciers may be unavoidable, and the ice sheet's demise could raise global sea level by as much as 4 meters, researchers reported.

While some may see evidence of rapid glacier thinning in the past and again today as evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is nearing a collapse driven by human - caused climate change, Steig said at this point, scientists just don't know whether that is the case.

«It was the biggest collapse of its kind up to that point, and it served to demonstrate how ice shelves regulate the movement of ice from the interior of the ice sheet to the ocean.»

For example, it says a sudden methane release from the ocean, or a slowdown of the Gulf Stream, are «very unlikely» and that a collapse of the West Antarctic or Greenland ice sheets during this century is «exceptionally unlikely.»

Hot water drilling still posed challenges: A borehole filled with water would quickly refreeze, and the hole could still collapse shut under the sheer weight of the surrounding ice sheet.

We reassess the potential contribution to eustatic and regional sea level from a rapid collapse of the ice sheet and find that previous assessments have substantially overestimated its likely primary contribution.

Even more worrying, and very likely, is the collapse of the giant Greenland ice sheet.

When the planet's big ice sheets collapsed at the end of the last ice age, their melting caused global sea levels to rise as much as 100 meters in roughly 10,000 years, which is fast in geological time, Mann noted.

The Larsen A, a sheet of ice the size of Rhode Island and 500 feet thick, was collapsing into the Weddell Sea.

«Collapse of European ice sheet caused chaos in past.»

During the last ice age, much of North America was covered by a giant ice sheet that many scientists believe underwent several catastrophic collapses, causing huge icebergs to enter the North Atlantic — phenomena known as Heinrich events.

Those changes may include the loss of Arctic summer sea ice, the collapse of ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica, dieback of the Amazon rainforest and changes in the jet stream and the pattern of El Niño and La Niña weather cycles.

Dr Ian Joughin at the University of Washington, author of a recent study simulating future Antarctic ice sheet losses added: «This study does a nice job of revealing the strong thinning along the Amundsen Coast, which is consistent with theory and models indicating this region is in the early stages of collapse.»

Of course, those numbers are the product of many assumptions, including partial collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet, and they are less reliable the further out they gOf course, those numbers are the product of many assumptions, including partial collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet, and they are less reliable the further out they gof many assumptions, including partial collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet, and they are less reliable the further out they gof the Antarctic ice sheet, and they are less reliable the further out they go.

«We know that there could potentially be catastrophic collapse of the ice sheets — we know it has happened in the past — but we don't know how likely it is to happen over our time scale.

BANGLADESH is one of the countries at most risk from climate change, as it is low - lying and could be swamped by rising seas — particularly if they rise by several metres (see «Ice sheets on course for collapse «-RRB-.

It was bad enough to learn last year that the ice sheets of West Antarctica were headed toward inevitable collapse in just a few centuries and that the world would have to contend with the more than 3 meters of water they hold.

By offering support for the idea that the EAIS has been largely stable during the last 14 million years, the research offers some hope that a massive collapse of the ice sheet, and associated sea level rise of tens of meters, may not be imminent.

One 2004 NASA - led study found that most of the glaciers they were studying «flow into floating ice shelves over bedrock up to hundreds of meters deeper than previous estimates, providing exit routes for ice from further inland if ice - sheet collapse is under way.»

The catastrophic collapse of the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet is underway, researchers said today (May 12).

When scientists talk about the «collapse» of an ice sheet, they mean irreversible, rapidly increased rates of recession.

However, it does say that if the collapse is underway, the contribution of ice sheets would not «exceed several tenths of a metre during the 21st century».

Vaughan, D.G., and J.R. Spouge, Risk estimation of collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet., Climatic Change, in press.

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.

The rate of release from the tundra alone is predicted to reach 1.5 billion tons of carbon per annum before 2030, contributing to accelerated climate change, perhaps resulting in sustained decadal doubling of ice loss causing collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet (Hansen et al, 201ice loss causing collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet (Hansen et al, 201Ice Sheet (Hansen et al, 2011).

in the last 18 months suggesting the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet was already underway — which it probably is, Scambos adds.

Many scientists concede that without drastic emissions reductions by 2020, we are on the path toward a 4C rise as early as mid-century, with catastrophic consequences, including the loss of the world's coral reefs; the disappearance of major mountain glaciers; the total loss of the Arctic summer sea - ice, most of the Greenland ice - sheet and the break - up of West Antarctica; acidification and overheating of the oceans; the collapse of the Amazon rainforest; and the loss of Arctic permafrost; to name just a few.

and the examples that he thinks have the potential to be large scale tipping elements are: Arctic sea - ice, a reorganisation of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, melt of the Greenland or West Antarctic Ice Sheets, dieback of the Amazon rainforest, a greening of the Sahara, Indian summer monsoon collapse, boreal forest dieback and ocean methane hydratice, a reorganisation of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, melt of the Greenland or West Antarctic Ice Sheets, dieback of the Amazon rainforest, a greening of the Sahara, Indian summer monsoon collapse, boreal forest dieback and ocean methane hydratIce Sheets, dieback of the Amazon rainforest, a greening of the Sahara, Indian summer monsoon collapse, boreal forest dieback and ocean methane hydrates.

As more ice are removed near the ice margin, more intraplate earthquakes are induced and this positive feedback may explain the fast collapse of ice sheets.

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 instabilityIce 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 instabilityice 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 instabilityice sheet instability23.

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 yeaIce 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 ySheet 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 yeaice 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 ysheet 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.

This process is difficult to accurately model, but rapid ice sheet collapse would certainly result in dramatically higher rates of sea level rise once this critical threshold is passed.

We believe that the standfirst of this piece, which states that the author «takes issue with some common misconceptions about how ice - sheets move, and doubts many pronouncements about the «collapse» of the planet's ice sheets» misleads the reader by assuming that Ollier's arguments are correct.

It remains difficult to assess how soon a collapse of Pine Island Glacier could occur, but a new paper by Bamber and Aspinall (2013) suggest that there is a growing view that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could become unstable over the next 100 years16.

A collapse of this ice shelf could lead to marine ice sheet instabilty and rapid global sea level rise.

The rapid shrinkage of glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula, coupled with the potential for ice - shelf collapse and grounding line retreat, raises concerns for the future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and this is an area of urgent current research [ice - shelf collapse and grounding line retreat, raises concerns for the future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and this is an area of urgent current research [Ice Sheet, and this is an area of urgent current research [3].

Geologic shoreline evidence has been interpreted as indicating a rapid sea level rise of a few meters late in the Eemian to a peak about 9 meters above present, suggesting the possibility that a critical stability threshold was crossed that caused polar ice sheet collapse [84]--[85], although there remains debate within the research community about this specific history and interpretation.

If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses, sea level will fall close to the Antarctic and will rise much more than the expected estimate in the northern hemisphere because of this gravitational effect;

Variety of studies increase concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, perhaps Greenland) can raise sea levels faster than most had believed.

Hence our answer to the question, «are the observations of the last few decades a harbinger of continued ice sheet collapse in West Antarctica?»

1968 Studies suggest a possiblity of collapse of Antarctic ice sheets, which would raise sea levels catastrophically.

It is well known that ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula have collapsed on several occasions in the last couple of decades, that ice shelves in West Antarctica are thinning rapidly, and that the large outlet glaciers that drain the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) are accelerating.

Among the benefits of paying the AGU associate membership even if you're not a climate scientist — prompt notice of new papers, some about climate, e.g. how do surface meltwater lakes contribute to ice sheet collapse.

More recent work has shown that the growth and collapse of the ice sheets is strongly tied to the insolation (Roe, 2006).»

However, in periods in the past, say around 8,200 years ago, or during the last ice age, there is lots of evidence that this circulation was greatly reduced, possibly as a function of surface freshwater forcing from large lake collapses or from the ice sheets.