As global ice dams begin to weaken due to warming temperatures, a new study suggests that prior attempts to evaluate the mass of the huge floating ice shelves that line the Antarctic ice sheet may have overestimated their thickness.
is the first large-scale study of its kind to compare ice shelf thickness data from ice-penetrating radar measurements to thickness data estimated from contemporary surface elevation measurements.
Yet as ice shelves play a large role in stabilizing the Antarctic ice sheet as well as Earth's complex climate system, getting an accurate estimation of their size is essential for calculating how their melt could contribute to sea level rise, said Allison Chartrand, lead author of the study and recent doctoral graduate of the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center.
One of the largest discrepancies the study found was that the assumptions used to estimate ice shelf thickness in previous research sometimes exaggerated ice shelf thickness in some areas, and at other times understated it.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Researchers find Antarctic ice shelves thinner than previously thoughtAs global ice dams begin to weaken due to warming temperatures, a new study suggests that prior attempts to evaluate the mass of the huge floating ice shelves that line the Antarctic ice sheet may have overestimated their thickness.
Read more »
Researchers find Antarctic ice shelves thinner than previously thoughtAs global ice dams begin to weaken due to warming temperatures, a new study suggests that prior attempts to evaluate the mass of the huge floating ice shelves that line the Antarctic ice sheet may have overestimated their thickness.
Read more »
Nature more nitrogen-sensitive than previously thought: Critical loads lowered in the NetherlandsThe average critical load for nitrogen deposition in the Netherlands is lower than previously assumed, according to new research by Wageningen Environmental Research, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and Research Centre B-WARE. The value that indicates how much nitrogen nature can tolerate without decline has decreased by an average of 1.3 kilograms per hectare per year. This means that nitrogen emissions need to be reduced even further to protect nature.
Read more »
New amphibian family tree indicates they evolved tens of millions of years later than previously thoughtResearchers, including Jeff Streicher, Senior Curator in Charge, Amphibians and Reptiles at the Natural History Museum, London, have unveiled the most extensive evolutionary tree of frogs (anuran amphibians) to date. This comprehensive phylogeny, based on hundreds of genetic markers and a staggering 5,242 frog species, is set to transform our understanding of these fascinating creatures.
Read more »
Arctic soil methane consumption may be larger than previously thought and increases in a drier climateA recent study finds that Arctic soil methane uptake may be larger than previously thought, and that methane uptake increases under dry conditions and with availability of labile carbon substrates.
Read more »
Arctic soil methane consumption may be larger than previously thought and increases in a drier climateArctic wetlands are known emitters of the strong greenhouse gas methane (CH4). Well-drained soils on the other hand remove methane from the atmosphere. In the Arctic and boreal biomes, well drained upland soils with a high potential for atmospheric methane consumption cover more than 80% of the land area. Despite the large upland coverage and their potential importance for methane uptake, the underlying mechanisms, environmental controls and even the magnitude of Arctic soil methane uptake are poorly understood.
Read more »