Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition
There is evidence that a self-sustaining ice discharge from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has started, potentially leading to its disintegration. The associated sea level rise of more than 3m would pose a serious challenge to highly populated areas including metropolises such as Calcutta, Shan...
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ftubpotsdam:oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-potsdam:48915 2024-04-21T07:48:16+00:00 Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition Feldmann, Johannes Levermann, Anders (Prof. Dr.) Mengel, Matthias 2019-07-17 https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/48915 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4132 eng eng https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/48915 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4132 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess ddc:530 Institut für Physik und Astronomie article doc-type:article 2019 ftubpotsdam https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4132 2024-03-27T15:02:48Z There is evidence that a self-sustaining ice discharge from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has started, potentially leading to its disintegration. The associated sea level rise of more than 3m would pose a serious challenge to highly populated areas including metropolises such as Calcutta, Shanghai, New York City, and Tokyo. Here, we show that the WAIS may be stabilized through mass deposition in coastal regions around Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. In our numerical simulations, a minimum of 7400 Gt of additional snowfall stabilizes the flow if applied over a short period of 10 years onto the region (-2 mm year(-1) sea level equivalent). Mass deposition at a lower rate increases the intervention time and the required total amount of snow. We find that the precise conditions of such an operation are crucial, and potential benefits need to be weighed against environmental hazards, future risks, and enormous technical challenges. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet University of Potsdam: publish.UP Science Advances 5 7 eaaw4132 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Potsdam: publish.UP |
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ftubpotsdam |
language |
English |
topic |
ddc:530 Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
spellingShingle |
ddc:530 Institut für Physik und Astronomie Feldmann, Johannes Levermann, Anders (Prof. Dr.) Mengel, Matthias Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition |
topic_facet |
ddc:530 Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
description |
There is evidence that a self-sustaining ice discharge from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has started, potentially leading to its disintegration. The associated sea level rise of more than 3m would pose a serious challenge to highly populated areas including metropolises such as Calcutta, Shanghai, New York City, and Tokyo. Here, we show that the WAIS may be stabilized through mass deposition in coastal regions around Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. In our numerical simulations, a minimum of 7400 Gt of additional snowfall stabilizes the flow if applied over a short period of 10 years onto the region (-2 mm year(-1) sea level equivalent). Mass deposition at a lower rate increases the intervention time and the required total amount of snow. We find that the precise conditions of such an operation are crucial, and potential benefits need to be weighed against environmental hazards, future risks, and enormous technical challenges. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Feldmann, Johannes Levermann, Anders (Prof. Dr.) Mengel, Matthias |
author_facet |
Feldmann, Johannes Levermann, Anders (Prof. Dr.) Mengel, Matthias |
author_sort |
Feldmann, Johannes |
title |
Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition |
title_short |
Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition |
title_full |
Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition |
title_fullStr |
Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stabilizing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by surface mass deposition |
title_sort |
stabilizing the west antarctic ice sheet by surface mass deposition |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/48915 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4132 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/48915 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4132 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4132 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
7 |
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eaaw4132 |
_version_ |
1796948823742873600 |