This is your glaciology briefing! The race is on to understand the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, the world's widest glacier which is retreating and changing rapidly. As warming changes this icy place, communities and governments around the world need the best possible answer to the sea level rise question: how much and how fast?
Glaciologists Meghan Sharp and Professor Sridhar Anandakrishnan, and oceanographer Dr Pete Davis talk about their epic field work to study Thwaites Glacier, and explain the key mechanics that are shaping its future.
This podcast was recorded in the middle of the final science conference for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, when findings were being shared and new models were being hashed out. By the end of the week, the community shared their latest model predictions: that the melting of Thwaites will accelerate through the 21st and 22nd centuries, leading to the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the 23rd century. Crucially, they also shared that emissions levels make an actual difference to the timeline of melting.
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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.
Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/
Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.
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37 mins