Antarctica’s hidden threat: Meltwater under the ice sheet amplifies sea-level rise

Antarctica’s hidden threat: Meltwater under the ice sheet amplifies sea-level rise

By Chen Zhao, University of Tasmania, and Ben Galton-Fenzi, Australian Antarctic Division One of the biggest challenges in predicting Antarctica’s deeply uncertain future is understanding exactly what’s driving its ice loss. A vast network of lakes and streams lies beneath the thick ice sheet. This water can lubricate the ice, allowing it to slide more rapidly toward the ocean. Our new research shows “subglacial water” plays a far larger role i…

Green knowledge to go: How much ice is there at the South Pole? An international research team has now managed to remeasure Antarctica The Antarctic is almost completely covered with ice. Nevertheless, there are also mountains, gorges, lakes and plains there. An international research team has now managed to re-measure Antarctica – without ice. For this purpose, the researchers used all the radar data obtained by ship, plane or satellite since t…