lightblueline

Scientific American (February 2008) outlines the risk that the major ice sheets (particularly the West Antarctic Ice Sheet) hold for potential rapid sea level rise. This piece is written by Robin Bell at Columbia University.

The Unquiet Ice (stub)

NOTE: the whole article requires a subscription.

Key Concepts:
The land-based ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica hold enough water to raise global sea level by more than 200 feet.

Source: CNN: updated 9:36 a.m. EDT, Wed October 24, 200

CNN report on the Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Here are some excepts:

"ILULISSAT, Greenland (CNN) -- From the air, Greenland's ice sheet, the second largest on Earth, appears to be perfectly still.
But below the surface, the ice sheet is in constant motion, as ice built up in the interior pushes toward the coast in the form of massive glaciers. During warmer months, ice from these glaciers melts into the ocean.

"TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada's Arctic, scientists said.

The mass of ice broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers (497 miles) south of the North Pole, but no one was present to see it in Canada's remote north.

Scientists using satellite images later noticed that it became a newly formed ice island in just an hour and left a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake."

Reported by CNN Science and Space: December 29, 2006.