One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is
thinning four times faster than it was 10 years ago, according to
research seen by the BBC.
A study of satellite measurements
of Pine Island glacier in west Antarctica reveals the surface of the
ice is now dropping at a rate of up to 16m a year.
Since 1994, the glacier has lowered by as much as 90m, which has serious implications for sea-level rise.
The work by British scientists appears in Geophysical Research Letters.
The team was led by Professor Duncan Wingham of University College London (UCL).
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 We’ve known that it’s been out of balance for some time, but nothing in the natural world is lost at an accelerating exponential rate like this glacier  Andrew Shepherd, Leeds University
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Calculations based on the rate of melting 15 years ago had suggested
the glacier would last for 600 years. But the new data points to a
lifespan for the vast ice stream of only another 100 years.
The
rate of loss is fastest in the centre of the glacier and the concern is
that if the process continues, the glacier may break up and start to
affect the ice sheet further inland.
One of the authors,
Professor Andrew Shepherd of Leeds University, said that the melting
from the centre of the glacier would add about 3cm to global sea level.
“But the ice trapped behind it is about 20-30cm of sea level
rise and as soon as we destabilise or remove the middle of the glacier
we don’t know really know what’s going to happen to the ice behind it,”
he told BBC News.
“This is unprecedented in this area of
Antarctica. We’ve known that it’s been out of balance for some time,
but nothing in the natural world is lost at an accelerating exponential
rate like this glacier.”
The
highlighted area shows a dense concentration of crevasses along one edge of the glacier. Large numbers of deep crevasses are a sign that parts of the glacier are moving rapidly….. |
Professor Box told BBC News: “The science community
has been surprised by how sensitive these large glaciers are to climate
warming. First it was the glaciers in south Greenland and now as we
move further north in Greenland we find retreat at major glaciers. It’s
like removing a cork from a bottle.”