Sign of Warming

'Surprisingly rapid changes' in Antarctic basin

 

A Texas-sized area of Antarctica is thinning and could cause the world's oceans to rise significantly in the long-term, polar ice experts said in wrapping up a three-day conference.

 

[A] number of consensus points reached at the workshop, among them:

• "Satellite observations show that both the grounded ice sheet and the floating ice shelves of the Amundsen Sea Embayment have thinned over the last decades.
• "Ongoing thinning in the grounded ice sheet is already contributing to sea-level rise.
• "The thinning of the ice has occurred because melting beneath the ice shelves has increased, reducing the friction holding back the grounded ice sheet and causing faster flow."

Considering that the impact of the rising seas and warming generally will be felt most by those already suffering, we have to wonder- how long will we continue to debate the need to act?