Antarctic glaciers retreating
Analysis of more than 2,000 aerial photographs dating from 1940 and more than 100 satellite images from the 1960s by Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and the US Geological Survey show glaciers along the Antarctic Peninsula retreating at an increasingly rapid pace and almost 90 per cent have melted significantly in the past 50 years.
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 reports ABCnews.
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.
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.
http://thebosh.com/archives/2005/04/antarctic_glaci.php
Antarctic Peninsula's Rivers of Ice Shrinking
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The first comprehensive survey of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula shows that the rivers of ice are shrinking, mostly because of warming of the local climate.
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 taken since the 1960s. They calculated that 87% of the 244 glaciers have retreated over the last 50 years and that the pace of shrinkage has accelerated over the last decade, they reported this week in the journal Science.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-briefs23.5apr23,1,3325337.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Antarctic Peninsula glaciers in widespread retreat, study finds
The first comprehensive study of glaciers around the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula reveals the real impact of recent climate change.
Results from the study by researchers at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published this week in the journal Science, show that over the last 50 years 87% of 244 glaciers studied have retreated, and that average retreat rates have accelerated.
http://www.physorg.com/news3830.html
Antarctic glaciers are getting smaller faster
By Mark Henderson
GLACIERS in part of Antarctica are in dramatic retreat as a result of climate change, the first comprehensive survey of the region has revealed.
Scientists have discovered that 87 per cent of the 244 marine glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula have shrunk over the past 50 years, and the rate at which they are melting is accelerating.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1579574,00.html
Antarctic Peninsula bears brunt of global warming
AM - Friday, 22 April , 2005 08:28:00
Reporter: Kirsten Aiken
TONY EASTLEY: A comprehensive study of the history of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula indicates that the region is experiencing atmospheric warming at a rate up to five times the global average.
The British Antarctic Survey found nearly all of the Peninsula's 244 glaciers have retreated over the past 50 years. If the trend continues, and there's no reason that the BAS says that it won't, sea levels around the world could rise and flood low-lying cities.
London reporter Kirsten Aiken asked the British Antarctic Survey's Principal Investigator, David Vaughan, what the implications were from increased Antarctic melts.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1351249.htm
Antarctic Peninsula weathers severe climate changes
The World Today - Friday, 22 April , 2005 12:22:00
Reporter: Karen Percy
ELEANOR HALL: British scientists in the Antarctic say they now have proof of the dramatic effects of climate change.
The British Antarctic Survey Group has just published research in the journal Science which shows that in the last half century almost 90 per cent of the glaciers in the Antarctic have retreated.
And they say it's no coincidence that during that time there's been a two-degree rise in the region's temperature.
Karen Percy compiled this report.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1351604.htm
