West Antarctica Media Teleconference

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May 12, 2014

Audio of the event will be streamed live at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Participants:

Eric Rignot, professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, and glaciologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

Tom Wagner, cryosphere program scientist with the Earth Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington

Sridhar Anandakrishnan, professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, University Park

A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea.

1 - Map of Antarctica showing Amundsen Sea

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2 - Animation of grounding-line retreat

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3 - Animation of West Antarctic Ice Sheet processes
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4 - Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets
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Supplemental Images

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West Antarctica bed topography. Areas colored brown are below sea level. Sea level itself is colored yellow, and green areas are above sea level. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/SVS

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The glaciers studied by Rignot's research team. Red indicates areas where flow speeds have increased over the past 40 years. The darker the color, the greater the increase. The increases in flow speeds extend hundreds of miles inland. Image credit: Eric Rignot

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The Amundsen Sea glacier beds are below sea level and slope deeper as they continue inland. This image shows the beds of Thwaites and Haynes glaciers, with colors indicating depth. The blue area under Thwaites Glacier is almost three-quarters of a mile below sea level. Image credit: Eric Rignot

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Thwaites Glacier. Image credit: NASA

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