Ice sheet – आवारा मुसाफिर

Scientists in Chile question if Antarctica has hit a point of no return

August 30, 2024224 Views

Nearly 1,500 academics, researchers and scientists specializing in Antarctica gathered in southern Chile for the 11th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research conference this week to share the most cutting-edge research from the vast white continent. Nearly every aspect of science, from geology to biology and glaciology to arts, was covered but a major undercurrent ran through the conference. Antarctica is changing, faster than expected. Extreme weather events in the ice-covered continent were no longer hypothetical presentations, but first-hand accounts from researchers about heavy rainfall, intense heat waves and sudden Foehn (strong dry winds) events at research stations that led to mass melting, giant glacier break-offs and dangerous weather conditions with global implications...

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Scientists reveal how Greenland Ice Sheet has shrunk over past four decades

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

January 18, 2024541 Views

The Greenland Ice Sheet lost 5,091 sq km (1930 sq miles) of area between 1985 and 2022, according to a study in the journal Nature published on Wednesday, the first full ice-sheet wide estimate of area loss on that scale. This shrinkage reflected the 1,034 gigatonnes (1.034 trillion kg.) of ice that have been lost as glaciers retreated, shedding ice through "calving" - when ice chunks break off from a glacier - at their terminating ends. FILE PHOTO: The edge of the ice sheet is pictured south of Ilulissat, Greenland, September 17, 2021. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke The study is also the first to fully estimate how much ice Greenland has lost due specifically to glacial retreat. It suggests previous estimates of changes to the Greenland Ice Sheet's mass balance - how much snow and ic...

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Seals help researchers collect data under Antarctic ice

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 1, 2022649 Views

A seal wearing a helmet with an antenna might look unusual, but eight Weddell seals, each with a 580g monitoring device on their heads, have been helping Japanese researchers survey the waters under the thick ice sheet in Antarctica. Tapped for a research project between March and November 2017 - winter in Antarctica - these seals were equipped with the head-mounted conductivity, temperature and depth sensor, which allows scientists to collect observation data, such as water temperatures and salt levels, in areas with extremely harsh environmental conditions. This video grab shows a Weddell seal fitted with high-tech head-mounted measuring devices to survey waters under the thick ice sheet, near Japan's Showa Station in Antarctica, April 2017. National Institute of Polar Research/Ha...

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Greenland Ice Sheet becoming world’s largest ‘dam’

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 24, 20221144 Views

Melting rate accelerating at the most important ice on Earth Researchers have observed extremely high rates of melting at the bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet, caused by huge quantities of meltwater falling from the surface to the base. As the meltwater falls, energy is converted into heat in a process like the hydroelectric power generated by large dams. An international team of scientists, led by the University of Cambridge, found that the effect of meltwater descending from the surface of the ice sheet to the bed – a kilometre or more below – is by far the largest heat source beneath the world’s second-largest ice sheet, leading to phenomenally high rates of melting at its base. Water flowing into a moulin and down to the bed of Store Glacier, Greenland. Photo: Poul Christoff...