Sentences with phrase «ice sheet instability»

However, in a case such as ice sheet instability and sea level rise, excessive caution also holds dangers.

This work is not unprecedented, and follows decades of work and several recent papers discussing marine ice sheet instability in West Antarctica (e.g., references 4, 5, 6).

Ritz, C. et al. (2015) Potential sea level rise from Antarctic ice sheet instability constrained by observations, Nature,

Dr Konrad added: «These differences emphasise the complex nature of ice sheet instability across the continent, and being able to detect them helps us to pinpoint areas that deserve further investigation.»

Ritz, C. et al. (2015) Potential sea level rise from Antarctic ice sheet instability constrained by observations, Nature, doi: 10.1038 / nature16147

The question of when does this start is not really addressed in this paper that I can find, and has been addressed only peripherally in most of the papers about ice sheet instability that I have seen.

Most climatologists believe that if temperatures rise more than another 1 degree C by 2100, conditions on the planet could become radically different and disruptive, including sharp shifts in precipitation patterns, more severe storms and droughts, the disappearance of the Arctic ice cap in summer, Greenland ice sheet instability, and much higher sea levels.

See Marine Ice Sheet Instability for more information.

Although it was not a true ice age, the term was introduced Marine ice sheet instability hypothesis and the threat of a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Marine ice sheet instability occurs when sub-shelf melt rate is large enough to force the ice sheet grounding line to retreat into an area where the ice is grounded below sea level on an inward - sloping bedrock, then it can become unstable.

Multiple studies of Antarctica indicate growing ice sheet instability, especially in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, where the Thwaites, Pine Island, Smith, Kohler, Pope, and Haynes Glaciers drain the central West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Ritz, C. et al. (2015) Potential sea level rise from Antarctic ice sheet instability constrained by observations, Nature, doi: 10.1038 / nature16147

It's a positive feedback cycle, a viscious loop that means that future recession of the ice stream is inevitable (see Marine Ice Sheet Instability and previous post).

Ritz, C. et al. (2015) Potential sea level rise from Antarctic ice sheet instability constrained by observations, Nature,

The first of these pathways, marine ice sheet instability, has been studied for decades, but the second, marine ice cliff instability, has only recently been considered as an important contributor to future sea level change.

Grounding line recession here could be irreversible, leading to rapid glacier thinning and recession, and sea level rise — see Marine Ice Sheet Instability.

These simulations provide strong evidence that the process of marine - ice sheet instability is already underway on Thwaites Glacier, largely due to the observed high sub-ice shelf melt rates.

Marine ice sheet instability is a classic example of hysteresis.

Thus two completely independent studies, using completely different methods, both find that the early stages of marine ice sheet instability may be underway in West Antarctica.

If they thin and melt away, this support is removed, leading to increase ice discharge, accelerated flow, grounding line recession8, 9, 10, and marine ice sheet instability.

She has shown, in an ice sheet model with gravitationally self - consistent sea level, there is actually a sea level fall at the grounding line, which acts to stabilize against the marine ice sheet instability.

The authors herald this as the start of marine ice sheet instability.

The ice sheet in this area is grounded up to 2000 m below sea level, making it intrinsically unstable6 and susceptible to rapid melting at its base, and to rapid migration of the grounding line up the ice stream7 (see Marine Ice Sheet Instability).

This is covered in more detail under Marine Ice Sheet Instability.

A study using Earth Remote Sensing satellite radar interferometry (EERS - 1 and -2) observations from 1992 through 2011 finds «a continuous and rapid retreat of the grounding lines of Pine Island, Thwaites, Haynes, Smith, and Kohler» Glaciers, and the authors conclude that «this sector of West Antarctica is undergoing a marine ice sheet instability that will significantly contribute to sea level rise in decades to centuries to come» (Rignot et al. 2014).

Mantle plumes could have contributed to ice sheet instability about 11,000 years ago.

Evidence points to the West Antarctic ice sheet instability and the potential for rapid melting due to climate change.

The report warns that continued burning of fossil fuels to increase living standards while expecting humanity to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects through better technologies «fails to appreciate the nature of the threat posed by ice sheet instability and sea level rise.