Texas-Sized Piece of Antarctica is Melting Away

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According to experts during a 3-day meeting at the University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, a large section of Antartica within the Amundsen Sea Embayment is melting away.The Amundsen Sea Embayment is part of the West Antartice Ice Sheet, which is the largest fresh water reservoir in the world. According to a statement released at the end of the conference, under normal conditions:

"The two-mile thick pile of ice and snow that is the Antarctic Ice Sheet spreads under its own weight, flowing down to the sea where the ice begins to float as ice shelves, with icebergs breaking off from the edges of the ice shelves. The ice shelves often run aground on islands, providing friction that slows the flow of the ice behind."

However, the melting of the ice sheet is halting this process. "Satellite observations show that both the grounded ice sheet and the floating ice shelves of the Amundsen Sea Embayment have thinned over the last decades." the statement said.

The scientists concluded that the melting has reduced the necessary friction that would normally slow ice flow. Furthermore, the thinning of the ice sheet has already caused higher sea levels. In fact, the assembly said, "All of the ice on Earth contains enough water to raise sea level over 200 feet, with about 20 feet from Greenland and almost all of the rest from Antarctica." A complete antartic melt down is not expected, but the scientists cautioned that even a small amount of melting would have grave affects. This is especially true for cities at or below sea level such as New Orleans, where a relatively small increase in sea level could flood the entire city.

Global warming has not been seen as the direct cause of ice sheet melting. However the scientists agreed that there were some indirect affects of human stimulated climate change happening: "...recent changes in winds around Antarctica caused by human influence and/or natural variability may be changing ocean currents, moving warmer waters under the ice shelves."