Tag: Antarctic

Ricarda Winkelmann: The Melting of Antarctica

By 2015,

A fairly unknown scientist – at least by US standards – took the lime light in major media in the US in September 2015. The New York Times – and also Democracy Now – quoted her this way:
“To be blunt: If we burn it all, we melt it all,” said Ricarda Winkelmann, the lead author of a paper entitled: “Combustion of available fossil fuel resources sufficient to eliminate the Antarctic Ice Sheet.” It was published on September 11, 2015, in the journal Science Advances.
Winkelmann is Juniorprofessor of Climate System Analysis at the prestigious Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Her research areas are Anthropogenic climate change; Tipping elements; Antarctic ice dynamics and Sea-level rise.
The New York Times summed [ . . . ]

Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

The loss of West Antarctic Glaciers – Interview with Prof. Eric Rignot

By 2015,

Repeat of June 2014 Broadcast
The world was shocked in May 2014 when NASA announced that parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appear to be in an irreversible decline. That area holds 4 feet of sea level rise. This rebroadcast prepares for an update of the melting – one year later. Eric Rignot is one of the lead scientists in this project. I called him on May 23, 2014 to find out how the teams arrived at these data:
Interview on Remote Sensing Technology with Professor Eric Rignot. He teaches Earth System Science at UC Irvine and is a glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena
A new study by Professor Eric Rignot and researchers at NASA and the University of [ . . . ]

Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

The Loss of West Antarctic Glaciers, FOUR of FOUR

By 2014,

An Interview with Professor Chris Rapley
When NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, announced at a press conference on May 12, 2014, that the loss of the West Antarctic glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment appears unstoppable I asked Professor Chris Rapley for his comments. As former Director of the British Antarctic Survey it had been his job and expertise to know all aspects of Antarctic research.
Born and educated in Britain, Rapley became an international scientist. 40 years ago he began a six year term with NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission. Then he lectured at the Department of Space and Climate Physics of University College London from 1981 to 1987 and became Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) at [ . . . ]

Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

The Loss of West Antarctic Glaciers Appears Unstoppable (THREE of FOUR)

By 2014,

Interview on Remote Sensing Technology with Professor Eric Rignot. He teaches Earth System Science at UC Irvine and is a glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena
A new study by Professor Eric Rignot and researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, presented in May, 2014, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline.
The Amundsen Sea Embayment with its five glaciers is one of the hardest to reach areas of West Antarctica. The advent of over-flights by airplanes and now observation from satellites was a game changer for research, says Professor Rignot.
This is an interview about the current technology of observation, and the way in which [ . . . ]

Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

The Loss of West Antarctic Glaciers Appears Unstoppable (TWO of FOUR)

By 2014,

Professor Eric Rignot, NASA and Professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine
Program TWO of FOUR
A new study presented by Professor Eric Rignot and researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, presented in May, 2014, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline. The Pine Island, Thwaites, and four other glaciers contain enough ice to raise global sea level by 4 feet and they are melting faster than most scientists had expected. These new findings, we are told, will require an upward revision to current predictions of sea level rise.
The NASA glaciologist Eric Rignot who is also Professor of Earth System Science at [ . . . ]

Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

The loss of West Antarctic Glaciers Appears Unstoppable (ONE of FOUR)

By 2014

Professor Chris Rapley, former Director, British Antarctic Survey
Program ONE of FOUR
A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, presented on May 12, 2014, 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. The Pine Island, Thwaites, Haynes, Pope, Smith, and Kohler glaciers discharge ever more rapidly into the Amundsen Sea. And even though the Amundsen Sea Embayment is a very small area of the continent of Antarctica these glaciers contain enough ice to raise global sea level by 4 feet and they are melting faster than most scientists had expected. [ . . . ]

Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)