Environment

Antarctic Ice Melt

West Antarctica is warming almost twice as fast as previously believed, adding to concerns that this warming can lead to more melting and have direct and indirect effects on global sea levels. The direct impacts are the run-off of melting waters into the sea. But the scientists say this is unlikely to happen for several decades because much of the water is likely to percolate down the ice sheet and refreeze.

Annual average temperatures at the Byrd research station in West Antarctica has risen 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3F) since the 1958, one of the fastest gains on the planet and three times the global average in a changing climate. The western part of the Antarctic ice sheet is experiencing nearly twice as much warming as previously thought.

The unexpectedly big increase adds to fears the ice sheet is vulnerable to thawing. West Antarctica holds enough ice to raise world sea levels by at least 3.3 metres (11 feet) if it ever all melted, a process that would take centuries.