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In 2012, research found that the West Antarctic ice sheet had warmed by 2.4 °C (4.3 °F) since 1958 – around 0.46 °C (0.83 °F) per decade, which was almost double the 2009 estimate. [35] In 2022, Central WAIS warming between 1959 and 2000 was estimated at 0.31 °C (0.56 °F) per decade, with this change conclusively attributed to increases ...
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]
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 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.
West Antarctic Rift System (between red dash lines). Dots are geologic drill holes. Insert map shows approximate extent. Exploration of the geology of the West Antarctic Rift System is limited because apart from peaks of the Transantarctic Mountains that protrude above the ice, much of the region is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf and the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is a large ice sheet in Antarctica; in places more than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) thick. It sits on bedrock mostly below sea level, having formed a deep subglacial basin due to the weight of the ice sheet over millions of years. [ 32 ]
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 ...
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are now losing more than three times as much ice a year as they were 30 years ago, according to a new comprehensive international study. Using 50 different ...