20130308_AN
Source: BBC TV News
URL: N/A
Date: 08/03/2013
Event: Antarctic ice sheets found to be "more vulnerable to rising temperatures"
Attribution: BBC TV News
People:
- Peter Fretwell: Geographer, British Antarctic Survey
- Pallab Ghosh: Science correspondent, BBC News
- Louise Minchin: BBC journalist and presenter
- Charlie Stayt: BBC journalist and presenter
Louise Minchin: It seems like an impossible task, but scientists have calculated how much ice there is in the Antarctic.
Charlie Stayt: The British Antarctic Survey says there's more than was previously thought, and that makes it more vulnerable to rising temperatures.
Pallab Ghosh: Pristine, and largely untouched by human activity. It's still unclear how climate change will affect Antarctica, and, if the ice melts, how much of it will cause sea levels to rise. So, to find out, researchers have created the most detailed map yet, using a combination of satellite data, radar from aeroplanes and ground surveys. And this is what they found. Take the ice away, and a hidden landscape of mountain ranges, hills and plains cut by steep gorges. We see great valleys, much deeper than found on any other continent. But put the ice back, and scientists see that there's slightly more of it than previously thought - around 5%. The downside, though - it's vulnerable to climate change.
Peter Fretwell: Well, one of the things we've found in Antarctica is that much more of the Antarctic ice sheets are resting on a bed which is below sea level. This means that they're potentially more vulnerable to the ocean currents coming in from underneath and melting them from underneath.
Pallab Ghosh: After a century of exploration, it's only now that we're really finding out about this most mysterious of continents, and beginning to learn how it might react, in time, to rising temperatures. Pallab Ghosh, BBC News.