Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Published Online September 23, 2004
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1099650

Reports

Submitted on April 27, 2004
Accepted on September 9, 2004

Accelerated Sea-Level Rise from West Antarctica

R. Thomas 1*, E. Rignot 2, G. Casassa 3, P. Kanagaratnam 4, C. Acuña 3, T. Akins 4, H. Brecher 5, E. Frederick 6, P. Gogineni 4, W. Krabill 7, S. Manizade 6, H. Ramamoorthy 4, A. Rivera 8, R. Russell 6, J. Sonntag 6, R. Swift 6, J. Yungel 6, J. Zwally 7

1 EG&G Inc., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), Building N-159, Wallops Island, VA 23337, USA; Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECS), Avenida Arturo Prat 514, Casilla 1469, Valdivia, Chile.
2 Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECS), Avenida Arturo Prat 514, Casilla 1469, Valdivia, Chile; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
3 Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECS), Avenida Arturo Prat 514, Casilla 1469, Valdivia, Chile.
4 Radar Systems and Remote Sensing Laboratory, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
5 Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
6 EG&G Inc., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), Building N-159, Wallops Island, VA 23337, USA.
7 Code 972, NASA-GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
8 Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECS), Avenida Arturo Prat 514, Casilla 1469, Valdivia, Chile; Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 3387, Santiago, Chile.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
R. Thomas , E-mail: thomas{at}osb.wff.nasa.gov

Recent aircraft and satellite laser-altimeter surveys of the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica show that local glaciers are discharging about 250 cubic km per year of ice to the ocean, almost 60% more than is accumulated within their catchment basins, and sufficient to raise sea level by more than 0.2 mm per year. Glacier thinning rates near the coast for 2002-03 are much larger than those observed during the 1990s. Most of these glaciers flow into floating ice shelves over bedrock up to hundreds of meters deeper than previous estimates, providing exit routes for ice from further inland if ice-sheet collapse is underway.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Progress in satellite remote sensing of ice sheets.
D.J. Quincey and A. Luckman (2009)
Progress in Physical Geography 33, 547-567
   Abstract »    PDF »
Ice Sheet Stability and Sea Level.
E. R. Ivins (2009)
Science 324, 888-889
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability.
M. M. Helsen, M. R. van den Broeke, R. S. W. van de Wal, W. J. van de Berg, E. van Meijgaard, C. H. Davis, Y. Li, and I. Goodwin (2008)
Science 320, 1626-1629
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inaugural Article: Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system.
T. M. Lenton, H. Held, E. Kriegler, J. W. Hall, W. Lucht, S. Rahmstorf, and H. J. Schellnhuber (2008)
PNAS 105, 1786-1793
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Free-Drifting Icebergs: Hot Spots of Chemical and Biological Enrichment in the Weddell Sea.
K. L. Smith Jr., B. H. Robison, J. J. Helly, R. S. Kaufmann, H. A. Ruhl, T. J. Shaw, B. S. Twining, and M. Vernet (2007)
Science 317, 478-482
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Climate change and trace gases.
J. Hansen, M. Sato, P. Kharecha, G. Russell, D. W Lea, and M. Siddall (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc A 365, 1925-1954
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recent Sea-Level Contributions of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets.
A. Shepherd and D. Wingham (2007)
Science 315, 1529-1532
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Radio-Echo Sounding Over Polar Ice Masses.
R. G. Bingham and M. J. Siegert (2007)
Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics 12, 47-62
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Insignificant change in Antarctic snowfall since the International Geophysical Year..
A. J. Monaghan, D. H. Bromwich, R. L. Fogt, S.-H. Wang, P. A. Mayewski, D. A. Dixon, A. Ekaykin, M. Frezzotti, I. Goodwin, E. Isaksson, et al. (2006)
Science 313, 827-831
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The environment and evolution of the West Antarctic ice sheet: setting the stage.
R. Bindschadler (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1583-1605
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Changes in ice dynamics and mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet.
E. Rignot (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1637-1655
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Observations of change in the Southern Ocean.
S. Jacobs (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1657-1681
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recent trends in Antarctic snow accumulation from Polar MM5 simulations.
A. J Monaghan, D. H Bromwich, and S.-H. Wang (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1683-1708
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Glaciers.
D. I. Benn (2006)
Progress in Physical Geography 30, 432-442
   PDF »
Measurements of Time-Variable Gravity Show Mass Loss in Antarctica.
I. Velicogna and J. Wahr (2006)
Science 311, 1754-1756
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ice-Sheet and Sea-Level Changes.
R. B. Alley, P. U. Clark, P. Huybrechts, and I. Joughin (2005)
Science 310, 456-460
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Snowfall-Driven Growth in East Antarctic Ice Sheet Mitigates Recent Sea-Level Rise.
C. H. Davis, Y. Li, J. R. McConnell, M. M. Frey, and E. Hanna (2005)
Science 308, 1898-1901
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Earth's Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications.
J. Hansen, L. Nazarenko, R. Ruedy, M. Sato, J. Willis, A. Del Genio, D. Koch, A. Lacis, K. Lo, S. Menon, et al. (2005)
Science 308, 1431-1435
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)