How unstable is the West Antarctic ice sheet?

Frolich, Richard. 1992 How unstable is the West Antarctic ice sheet? Physics World, 5 (11). 21-22. https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-7058/5/11/22

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-7058/5/11/22

Abstract/Summary

In the late 1970s, many people still thought that a cooling trend in the Northern Hemisphere heralded the next ice age. But some were already claiming that rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and the "inherent instability" of the land-based West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS), threatened a sea-level rise that would displace millions of people in a matter of decades. By 1989, a series of warm years were feeding concern that a runaway green-house effect indeed spelt disaster for the world's ice sheets. "WE COULD BE A CITY BY THE SEA" read a Cambridge Evening News headline and the Green Party took 15% of the British votes for the European Parliament – assessing the potential for disintegration of the polar ice sheets has been recognised as an urgent task.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-7058/5/11/22
ISSN:	0953-8585
Date made live:	22 Nov 2017 09:50 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518460

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-7058/5/11/22

ISSN:

0953-8585

Date made live:

22 Nov 2017 09:50 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518460