Antarctic research shows less sea ice forming and glacier melting from below

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Scientists have confirmed grave fears that the failure of a full sea ice return in Antarctica is the new norm. It comes as newly released data shows one of the icy continent's largest glaciers is melting from beneath.

Transcript

00:00 Hovering above East Antarctica, a team of scientists drop a probe into the icy waters

00:07 below.

00:08 Its purpose?

00:10 To test the temperature.

00:11 While a lot is known about the impact that warm water has in West Antarctica, the east

00:16 remains a bit of a mystery.

00:18 Over six days, dozens of probes were dropped into the cracks in the ice.

00:23 The data, fed back to scientists, was that warm water is melting the Totten Glacier,

00:28 the largest in East Antarctica, from below.

00:31 If it melts, it could mean an eventual sea level rise of three and a half metres.

00:37 The release of this research is timely.

00:39 In July, scientists warned that sea ice hadn't returned to its usual winter levels.

00:45 Today came confirmation low sea ice will be the new normal.

00:49 This new report is the first time we've been able to definitively link ocean warming with

00:54 sea ice changes.

00:56 As sea ice freezes in winter and melts in summer, it pumps vital nutrients into the

01:01 ocean.

01:02 It's like a heartbeat for the ocean.

01:05 But what we've seen lately is a marked change in that cycle.

01:10 Animals reliant on sea ice for breeding are already being impacted, and the loss of sea

01:15 ice could see the global ocean warm even more rapidly.

01:19 Dr. Doddridge says while we can't rule out a natural cause for these changes, there is

01:24 something we can control.

01:26 Really the only thing we can do is reduce our fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

01:32 Chilling predictions of a warmer future.

01:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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