Radar scans reveal alarming 'warning sign' from Antarctic glaciers
An advanced radar scan of three glaciers at the South Pole have revealed ‘warning signs’ about the future of the region.
Researchers analysing the data warned that the collapse of Antarctic glaciers could lead to rapid sea level rises and the collapse of buildings in cities such as far as Houston.
The study used an advanced remote imaging system known as synthetic aperture radar interferometry to scan three polar glaciers, the Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers in West Antarctica's Amundsen Sea Embayment.
The scan showed details of how the glaciers are melting in unprecedented detail and clarity - and revealed that melting in the region is not slowing or stabilising, the University of Houston researchers say.
The article was published in the journal Nature Geosciences.
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Lead author Pietro Milillo, assistant professor of civil engineering at UH said: “Thanks to the new generation of radar satellite, we have been able in recent years to witness retreat rates faster than ever observed among glaciers around the world.
“That's a warning sign that things are not settling, not stabilizing at all. This could have severe implications for the equilibrium of the entire glacier system in this area.”
The researchers used data collected via the TanDEM-X and COSMO-SkyMed satellites.
The research team next plans to expand the scientific understanding it gains from the relatively small and less studied Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers to their giant and fragile West Antarctica neighbours, the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, as well as to the entire Antarctic glacier system.
Milillo said: "The issue here is that we found such a high retreat rate - so high that we actually see these three smaller glaciers could actually capture the basin from the nearby Thwaites glacier, which would cause Thwaites to lose more mass."
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In Antarctica, glaciers don't melt because of their interaction with the sun. They melt because they accelerate and inject more ice into the ocean. That is one of the principal mechanisms of mass loss."
At the southmost point of the Earth, the South Pole is in darkness most of the year.
Its extreme weather means researchers can visit for only short periods of time, limiting their research.
Milillo says that Antarctica is so remote that most of the time the nearest humans are astronauts orbiting the earth aboard the International Space Station.
Milillo says "Radar is perfect for those applications. The beauty of radar is that it can penetrate clouds. It can look in any weather condition. It is also an active sensor, so we don't have to rely on the light of the sun.
"In the past, we needed to wait several years in order to accumulate enough useful data. For that reason, we could observe only long-term trends. Now we can look at retreats on a monthly basis and can capture a new level of detail that will help improve glacier models and, in turn, refine our sea level rise estimates.”
"If all ice above floatation in Antarctica would melt, the sea level would go up on average by 58 meters (190 feet)," Milillo said.
"If the signals we are looking at are confirmed, the mass loss from Antarctica, as well as Greenland, will rise. As they rise, the sea level will increase."
"If all these glaciers melt, the sea water could raise rapidly. With 267 million people worldwide living on land less than 2 meters (6.6 feet) above sea level, an abrupt migration could result. Also, subsidence could eventually see large structures sinking in vulnerable locales, including Houston.
"That's why people should care about this issue. Even if doesn't affect their life, it will affect their kid's life and their grandkid's life."
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