Ice Losses in Antarctica Move South

[n2doc]

The colder side of the Antarctic Peninsula now shows signs of melting.

By Larry O'Hanlon | Wed Feb 24, 2010

A new report of ice shelf changes along the southern, colder part of the Antarctic Peninsula reveal some dramatic losses of ice over the last 63 years that the researchers attribute to global warming.

The report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiles a wide variety of maps, aerial photos and satellite imagery to create a record of how the disappearance of floating ice shelves is increasing in the south of the peninsula, just as has happened in the north.

It's important, say the researchers, because as the ice shelves disappear, they uncork glaciers along the coast, which then pour more ice from the interior into the sea. That, in turn, contributes to sea levels rising, which threatens coasts worldwide.

"We have seen that the (disappearing ice shelves) effect has migrated south," said USGS's Jane Ferrigno, whose team included members of the British Antarctic Survey the Scott Polar Research Institute and Germany's Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy.
more

http://news.discovery.com/earth/antarctica-peninsula-ice-melt-warming.html

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1. See also

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=232420&mesg_id=232420