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A map of West Antarctica. The total volume of the entire Antarctic ice sheet is estimated at 26.92 million km 3 (6.46 million cu mi), [2] while the WAIS contains about 2.1 million km 3 (530,000 cu mi) in ice that is above the sea level, and ~1 million km 3 (240,000 cu mi) in ice that is below it. [20]
Because the East Antarctic ice sheet is over 10 times larger than the West Antarctic ice sheet and located at a higher elevation, it is less vulnerable to climate change than the WAIS. In the 20th century, EAIS had been one of the only places on Earth which displayed limited cooling instead of warming, even as the WAIS warmed by over 0.1 °C ...
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names approved the name in 1962. West Antarctica is mostly covered by a massive ice sheet referred to as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In recent decades, this ice sheet has shown signs of decreasing mass. [4] The geologic history of West Antarctica was summarized in a 2020 publication. [5]
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet holds enough water to raise sea levels by about 5 meters – more than 16 feet — which would cause devastating flooding in coastal towns and cities around the world.
The West Antarctic ice sheet is likely to completely melt [17] [18] [19] unless temperatures are reduced by 2 °C (3.6 °F) below 2020 levels. [20] The loss of this ice sheet would take between 2,000 and 13,000 years, [21] [22] although several centuries of high greenhouse emissions could shorten this time to 500 years. [23]
But the region is hugely significant: the Antarctic ice sheet already sheds an average of 150 billion metric tons of ice every year and, in its entirety, it holds enough water to raise global sea ...
If contact of ice to bottom rocks is lost seaward of the grounding line, the ice sheet becomes significantly thinner (some 100 m), forming a shelf ice. John H. Mercer (19 October 1922 – 3 July 1987) was a British glaciologist, chiefly known for his theoretical work on, and field studies of Antarctic ice streams , especially in the ...
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