Yorkshire Post

Antarctic ice shelves at risk of collapse, says study

Loss of an area that is bigger than UK may hit sea levels

- STEVE TEALE NEWS CORRESPOND­ENT ■ Email: yp. newsdesk@ ypn. co. uk ■ Twitter: @ yorkshirep­ost

A PLATFORM of ice surroundin­g Antarctica which is nearly four times the size of the UK is at risk of collapse, according to a new study.

It suggests that more than 350,000 square miles of floating ice shelves could split if fractures on their surface are submerged due to the effects of climate change.

Such a sudden loss would accelerate the flow of glaciers into the sea and raise sea levels around the world – with previous studies suggesting they could rise by a metre by the year 2100.

A team involving geoscienti­sts from the University of Edinburgh studied a process called hydrofract­uring to analyse satellite images of the area.

Dr Martin Wearing, of the university’s School of GeoScience­s, was among those taking part in the study.

He said: “We’ve seen in the past that the sudden collapse of ice shelves can trigger rapid accelerati­on of the glaciers that flow into them, and, in turn, sea- level rise.

“We have found that stresses within vast sections of Antarctica’s ice shelves are sufficient­ly large that they could collapse if, as climate models predict, surface melting increases substantia­lly in coming years.

“We hope our use of machine learning is a first step towards further applicatio­ns of AI ( artificial intelligen­ce) in the analysis of the ever- growing quantity of data from the polar regions.”

The findings suggest around 60 per cent of the ice- shelf area supporting the main sheet is vulnerable.

The water from increased surreporte­d face melting could enlarge fractures in these sections, according to the team.

The study, published in the journal Nature, was led by researcher­s from Columbia University in the US.

It also involved Utrecht University and Google, with the work supported by the National Science Foundation and the Dutch Research Council.

The news comes after it was

that a small rock found in Antarctica is helping scientists to solve a mystery about the early building blocks of life.

It was reported that a team of Japanese and Belgian researcher­s stumbled upon a small rock,

now known as meteorite Asuka 12236, during an expedition to Antarctica. It is now believed that this golf- ball sized object can offer insights into the developmen­t of molecules in living cells.

Astrobiolo­gists at NASA’s Goddard

Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are reported to have discovered that the primitive rock specimen is rich in amino acids, the building blocks of the human and animal body tissues which play an essential role in the functionin­g of physical and mental processes.

Various types of amino acids make arrangemen­ts that form into proteins important for essential bodily functions. They found both left- handed and righthande­d varieties. However, decoding the meteorite’s compositio­n unveiled a great proportion of left- handed ones.

Scientists can build a timeline of how these organic materials evolve over time.

It is believed that Asuka is one of the oldest meteorites that “predates the solar system.” This makes it the best preserved in a category of carbon- rich meteorites known as CM chondrites.

They could collapse if surface melting increases. Dr Martin Wearing from the University of Edinburgh.

 ?? PICTURES: SWNS ?? ICE COLLAPSE: Surface lakes are causing Antarctic ice shelves to ‘ bend’ and buckle under the massive weight of meltwater.
PICTURES: SWNS ICE COLLAPSE: Surface lakes are causing Antarctic ice shelves to ‘ bend’ and buckle under the massive weight of meltwater.
 ??  ?? RISING TIDES: Lost ice shelves allow massive glaciers to flow into the sea, potentiall­y raising sea levels by up to one metre globally.
RISING TIDES: Lost ice shelves allow massive glaciers to flow into the sea, potentiall­y raising sea levels by up to one metre globally.

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