Scientists warn of ‘unstoppable’ ice melt in Antarctica’s Wilkes Basin
Warming could trigger 'unstoppable' slide into the ocean, raising sea levels by up to 4m
Part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a study shows.
The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 1,000 inland, held enough ice to raise sea levels by between three and four metres if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said.
East Antarctica's Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant. Once uncorked, it empties out
The basin is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice, resting on bedrock below sea level by the coast of the frozen continent. That "ice plug" might melt away in coming centuries if ocean waters warmed up.
"East Antarctica's Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant. Once uncorked, it empties out," Matthias Mengel of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, lead author of the study in the journal Nature Climate Change, said.
Co-author Anders Levermann, also at Potsdam in Germany, said the main finding was that the ice flow would be irreversible if set in motion. He said there was still time to limit warming to levels to keep the ice plug in place.
Almost 200 governments have promised to devise a UN deal by the end of next year to curb increasing emissions of man-made greenhouse gases that a UN panel said would cause more droughts, heatwaves, downpours and rising sea levels.