More than a third of these frozen moorings, known as pinning points, have decreased in size since the turn of the century, experts say.
More than a third of these frozen moorings, known as pinning points, have decreased in size since the turn of the century, experts say.
Further deterioration of pinning points, which hold in place the floating ice sheets that fortify Antarctica’s land ice, would accelerate the continent’s contribution to rising sea levels, scientists warn.
First study - Floating ice sheets fringe 75 per cent of Antarctica’s coastline and cover an area equivalent to the size of Greenland.
The findings are part of the first ever study of changes in the thickness of Antarctic ice shelves – extensions of land ice that float on the ocean – stretching back to 1973. Previous observations only date from 1992.
Read more at: University of Edinburgh
