Global sea levels are expected to rise further this century and evidence in this regard comes from Antarctica where over 300 glaciers have begun to move more quickly into the ocean.
Scientists fear the accelerated movement of glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula indicates a dramatic shift in the way ice is melting around the world, contributes largely to increase in global sea levels.
The scientists expound that rising temperatures not only add huge volumes of melt water to the sea, but also cause glaciers to break up and slip into the ocean at a faster rate than expected. Retreating glaciers of Alaska, Greenland and now Antarctica reveal the whole story. This fact comes as a contradiction to the IPCC, that some time back refuted the dynamic act of the glaciers. It will certainly make the international body to rethink its theories relating to glacier retreat and sea level temperature.
The use of radar images taken between 1993 and 2003 have helped scientists at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge to map a 12 per cent increase in the average rate of movement of over 300 glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula during the period.
The scientists whose find is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, believe that their research is the first to suggest the dynamic act of glacier retreat, suggesting that as glaciers begin melting they experience a physical transformation that causes acceleration in their retreat into the sea. The theory quite clearly demarcates how the glaciers are slipping faster into the ocean and soon transforming into water from ice.
The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced 80% of glacier retreat, a fact of fastest warming on Earth, nearly 3 degree Celsius over the past half-century.
If the trend continues, that time is not far when the ocean will devour our planet.
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Via: Independent.co.uk