Antarctica

How close is the West Antarctic ice sheet to a ‘tipping point’?

instability ice glacier west antarctica shelf climate change global warming melting current threshold

On the edge? Image: Unsplash/Henrique Setim

Christina Hulbe
Professor, University of Otago School of Surveying
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Antarctica

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Illustration of Marine Ice Sheet Instability, or MISI. Thinning of the buttressing ice shelf leads to acceleration of the ice sheet flow and thinning of the marine-terminated ice margin. Because bedrock under the ice sheet is sloping towards ice sheet interior, thinning of the ice causes retreat of the grounding line followed by an increase of the seaward ice flux, further thinning of the ice margin, and further retreat of the grounding line
Marine ice sheet instability, explained. Image: IPCC SROCC (2019) Fig CB8.1a
instability ice glacier west antarctica shelf climate change global warming melting current threshold
The Thwaites Glacier is under threat. Image: Quantarctica/Norwegian Polar Institute
instability ice glacier west antarctica shelf climate change global warming melting current threshold
Pine Island Glacier ice shelf rift. Image: NASA Image Collection/Alamy Stock Photo
Illustration of Marine Ice Cliff Instability. If the cliff is tall enough (at least ~800m of total ice thickness, or about 100m of ice above the water line), the stresses at the cliff face exceed the strength of the ice, and the cliff fails structurally in repeated calving events.
Illustration of Marine Ice Cliff Instability. Image: IPCC SROCC (2019)
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AntarcticaClimate ChangeGlobal RisksOcean
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The Antarctic ice sheet is melting. And this is bad news for humanity

Marta Moreno Ibáñez

March 3, 2023

1:28

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