A new generation of weather satellites is helping researchers gain insights into the complex relationship between the cryosphere ÛÒ the planet’s cold regions ÛÒ and the climate. With drinking water supplies dwindling around the world, understanding the cryosphere is becoming a front-burner issue.
Measuring the Irreversible Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is in a state of irretrievable decline, warns a study released by NASA and the University of California, Irvine. The results have consequences for the glacial structure of the Antarctic and the height of future sea level rise. In an interview with Earthzine, Dr. Prasad Gogineni describes the technologies used to measure these dramatic changes.
West Antarctic Glacier Collapse ‘Unstoppable’
Originally Published by ENS – IRVINE, California, May 13, 2014 (ENS) – A rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in irreversible decline, with nothing to stop the entire glacial basin from disappearing into the sea, according to researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine.
Network for tracking earthquakes exposes glacier activity: Accidental find offers big potential for research on Alaska's glaciers
Originally Published by Science Daily – Alaska’s seismic network records thousands of quakes produced by glaciers, capturing valuable data that scientists could use to better understand their behavior, but instead their seismic signals are set aside as oddities. The current earthquake monitoring system could be ‘tweaked’ to target the dynamic movement of the state’s glaciers.