West Antarctic's Sea-Level Rise May Be Overstated, Study Shows

Submitted by hlowengard on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 21:14.

Start: 12/31/1969 - 20:33

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

Story Link:

Source:

Bloomberg Bloo

Pub Date:

15 May 2009

Category:

Climate Science/Technology

The collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would contribute 3.3

meters (11 feet) to the rise in sea levels over hundreds of years, about

half as much as previous estimates, a U.K.-led team of researchers

found. The team, led by Jonathan Bamber, a glaciologist at the

University of Bristol, reported their findings in the journal Science.

Bamber’s team said that while tracts of ice grounded below sea level

would float upwards and break up if the ice shelves holding them

disintegrated, portions of ice attached to land above sea level will

stay frozen, contrary to earlier estimates. They also noted that the

western ice sheet’s contribution to sea-level rise won't be uniform

across the globe because of gravitational effects. "The pattern of

sea-level rise is independent of how fast or how much of the West

Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses," Bamber said. "Even if the WAIS

contributed only a meter of sea level rise over many years, sea levels

along North America’s shorelines would still increase 25 percent more

than the global average."