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.

Science 18 January 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5554, pp. 451 - 452
DOI: 10.1126/science.1068919
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

CLIMATE CHANGE:
Enhanced: On Thickening Ice?

Richard B. Alley

The large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica play an important role in global climate. Much attention has focused on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In his Perspective, Alley highlights the report by Joughin et al., who show that in the region of the West Antarctic drainage into the Ross Sea, on average, the ice sheet is thickening slowly. Earlier studies indicated a net thinning in this region. The results may indicate the stabilization or readvance of the ice sheet, but the system is complex and existing data are insufficient to identify a trend.

The author is in the EMS Environment Institute and the Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. E-mail: ralley{at}essc.psu.edu

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

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