| Author |
Message |
zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
|
 Fri Apr 22, 2005 2:11 pm Study Shows Antarctic Glaciers Shrinking |
|
| Quote: |
Fri Apr 22,11:21 AM ET
Add to My Yahoo! Science - AP
By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer
LONDON - The first comprehensive survey of glaciers on the Antarctic peninsula has shown that the rivers of ice are shrinking, mostly because of warming of the local climate.
Photo
Reuters Photo
It is unclear, however, whether the increased temperature causing the shrinkage is a natural regional effect or a result of global warming, said the scientists who conducted the study, published this week in the journal Science.
Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed more than 2,000 aerial photographs dating from 1940 and more than 100 satellite images from the 1960s onwards.
They calculated that 87 percent of the 244 glaciers going out to sea from the peninsula have retreated during the last 50 years and that the pace of shrinkage has accelerated in the last decade. Until now, scientists were uncertain whether the glaciers were growing or melting.
"Fifty years ago, most of the glaciers we look at were slowly growing in length but since then this pattern has reversed. In the last five years the majority were actually shrinking rapidly," said the study's leader, Alison Cook of the British Antarctic Survey.
"However, 32 glaciers go against the trend and are showing minor advance. Had we not studied such a large number of glaciers we may have missed the overall pattern."
The Antarctic peninsula is a small segment of the Antarctic continent, located at the South Pole, and the behavior of the ice on the peninsula is not necessarily a reflection of what's going on elsewhere in Antarctica, said another investigator, David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey.
Temperatures seem to be much warmer on the Antarctic peninsula than on the rest of the continent.
Evidence from the main Antarctic ice sheet is mixed, with some areas of the continent showing shrinkage and others showing thickening.
Ice shrinkage has also been documented in Alaska and the North Pole.
Scientists worry about the melting of the ice sheets because the extra water may increase sea levels, which in turn could mean more flooding damage to coastal areas during storms.
Sea levels have risen by 4-8 inches over the last 100 years. However, the study was not able to tell whether the shrinkage is having a meaningful impact on sea levels.
It also is unclear whether changes in the larger ice sheet in Antarctica are contributing to a sea-level rise, Vaughan said.
"This is another piece in the jigsaw that tells us how climate change is affecting the planet. It may not be a significant piece, but there's a million-piece jigsaw out there to be filled in ... and this is one piece in it," Vaughan said. |
|
|
|
webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
|
| Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:15 pm |
|
(I truly hate to use this phrase, but) The loss of glaciers around the world is literally the "tip of the iceberg" in terms of human modification of the atmosphere.
-------signature-------
"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
|
|
|
Zeke Zabertini
Captain
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 4832
|
| Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:44 pm |
|
Not to sanction it as an acceptable impact of industry, but I'm fairly confident that if it gets to a point where it endangers civilization humanity will figure out a remedy without too much trouble. The shame of it is, in my eyes, that it seems we must come to disaster before we rectify our errors, at which point it is too late for many.
|
|
|
John Connor
Admiral of the Terran Empire
Joined: 07 Sep 2002
Posts: 15657
Location: I.S.S Emperor
|
| Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:53 am |
|
That is ever so wierd you know. That they are doing this. But, I heard that a 75 mile one broke off.
|
|
|
Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
|
| Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:24 am |
|
I'd be living at the beach, so don't care about this at all. 
|
|
|
Annatar
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 132
Location: oblivion
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:10 am |
|
You will when you're drowned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
|
|
|
LightningBoy
Commodore
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 1446
Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:54 am |
|
It's natural, the Earth's percession is directly between two ice ages, meaning that the poles are getting more sunlight than in other times.
|
|
|
Annatar
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 132
Location: oblivion
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 12:01 pm |
|
CO2 emissions aren't exactly helping though. 
|
|
|
Captain Patrick
Commodore
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 2421
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 12:12 pm |
|
^^ true
but i think it is just a natural thing. we are not causing it
|
|
|
Annatar
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 132
Location: oblivion
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 12:24 pm |
|
Who knows. The world has suffered much pollution due to humans. How do you know that we didn't start a catalyst?
|
|
|
Captain Patrick
Commodore
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 2421
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 1:42 pm |
|
I don't but how do you know we did.
|
|
|
Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:20 pm |
|
Thought it was like about 8 times higher than the natural thing hons
|
|
|
Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
|
| Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:19 pm |
|
| Captain Patrick wrote: | | I don't but how do you know we did. |
Simple: smog, massive CO2 emmissions, Nuclear waste, etc.
|
|
|
|
Search
FAQ
Log in
