Water entering the oceans from melting ice sheets could cause extreme weather and a change in ocean circulation not currently accounted for in global climate policies, a new study published today finds.
The study, published in the journal Nature (7 February) led by Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre and involving an international team of scientists from Canada, the UK, Germany and the USA used climate models to simulate what might happen when water from melting ice sheets enters the Earth’s oceans.
This is the first study to use highly detailed models of both ice sheets combined with observations of recent ice sheet changes from satellites. This combination creates more reliable and accurate predictions than has been achieved previously.
Read more at British Antarctic Survey
Image: Melting ice from Antarctica and Greenland will create climate disruption. CREDIT: Ella Gilbert