© 2004 Eugene S. Takle
Recent measurements from aircraft and satellites (Thomas, et al., 2004) show accelerated ice loss from
local glaciers on the West Antarctic ice sheet to be increasing their contribution to rise in sea
level. These glaciers are thinning much more rapidly in 2002-2003 than in the 1990s. The current rate
of sea-level rise is about 1.8 mm/yr, of which 0.4 mm/yr is due to non-polar glaciers, 0.15 mm/yr due
to Greenland and 0.2 mm/yr to the West Antarctic ice sheet loss. With enough ice in this part of West
Antarctica to raise sea level by 1.3 m if broken off completely, the fate of these glaciers is of high
importance to future sea level rise.
Thomas, R., and Co-authors, 2004: Accelerated sea-level rise from West Antarctica. Science,
306, 255-258.
Reference