The discovery of a 460 km river under the Antarctica ice sheet could be the missing link to climate models.
The discovery of a 460 km river under the Antarctica ice sheet could be the missing link to climate models.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Christine Dow, a professor in the department of Geography and Environmental Management and cross-appointed to the Department of Applied Mathematics, discovered the river from a series of airborne radar surveys and modelling. Their findings show the ice sheet's base has more active water flow than previously thought, which could make it more susceptible to changes in climate.
"From satellite measurements, we know which regions of Antarctica are losing ice and how much, but we don't necessarily know why," said Dow, a Waterloo Climate Institute member. "This discovery could be a missing link in our models. We could be hugely underestimating how quickly the system will melt by not accounting for the influence of these river systems."
Read more at University of Waterloo
Photo Credit: kasabubu via Pixabay
