Antarctica's Thinning Ice Sheets
Picture source: livescience.com
A study published on March 26, 2015 shows quickly disappearing ice shelves in the western region of Antarctica. Some ice shelves in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas (two melting hotspots in western Antarctica) have shown an 18% loss in thickness in the past decade. Researchers believe this rate of loss could result in the disappearance of the entire ice shelf within a century.
The study shows that West Antarctica's ice sheets have been gradually thinning, which has increased in loss, while East Antarctica has stopped gaining ice mass. These ice sheets help retain the glacier mass by holding back streaming ice of the glacier, but when the ice sheets are gone, the glaciers drop more ice into the ocean, which then causes a gradual sea level increase.
Past records that were used in the study show that there was a 70% increase in ice volume in West Antarctica between 2003 and 2012. This was a loss of 74 cubic miles of ice every year. One of the researchers says this is largely because of the warm ocean currents that have been advancing on West Antarctica's ice shelves. Previous studies match with the results of this one and continue to show a gradual decline in our glacial ice sheets.
Source: http://www.livescience.com/50282-antarctica-ice-shelves-rapidly-thinning.html
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