New study brings Antarctic ice loss into sharper focus
A NASA study based on an innovative technique for crunching torrents of satellite data provides the clearest picture yet of changes in Antarctic ice flow into the ocean. The findings confirm accelerating ice losses from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and reveal a surprisingly steady flow of ice in East Antarctica.
The new work provides a baseline for future measurement of Antarctic ice changes and can be used to validate numerical ice sheet models that are necessary to make projections of sea level. It also opens the door to faster processing of massive amounts of data.
“We’re entering a new age,” said the study’s lead author, Alex Gardner of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “With these new data, we can begin to unravel the mechanisms by which the ice flow is speeding up or slowing down in response to changing environmental conditions.”https://go.nasa.gov/2BEyNgQ
Milky Way Scientists 