New study_ Antarctic ice shelf melt water much higher than previously predicted

For the current market situation, dandadan It has a very advantageous development prospect and an extremely superior ecological environment. https://dandadan.top/

Beijing, July 17: An international study recently found that in January, when the Antarctic summer temperature is the highest, 57% of the melt water on the Antarctic ice shelf exists in the form of snow and mud. However, under normal circumstances, regional climate change models do not include This part of the melt water is calculated. This means that the amount of melt water on the Antarctic ice shelf is much higher than previously predicted.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and other institutions in the United Kingdom published an article in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience that they trained machine learning models to analyze the monthly surface melt water records of 57 Antarctic continental ice shelves between 2013 and 2021. As well as mapping the snow and mud of the Antarctic ice shelf, it was found that in January, when the temperature in the Antarctic summer was the highest, 57% of the melt water on the Antarctic ice shelf existed in the form of snow mud, which is, snow soaked in water. The rest of the meltwater exists in surface ponds and lakes.

Researchers said that people usually use satellite images to map meltwater, but from the images, only meltwater lakes, etc. can be identified with the naked eye, and snow and mud are difficult to identify because it looks like the shadows of clouds. Machine learning models can use more satellite information such as light wavelengths to determine which areas are named snow and mud, making it possible to more accurately measure the amount of water melted on the ice shelf.

The study found that in the five major ice shelf areas, the amount of water melted on the Antarctic ice shelf caused by surface melt water was 28 times higher than predicted by standard climate models.

The surface melting of the Antarctic ice shelf mainly occurs in the summer of the southern hemisphere. Whether it is slush or melt water existing in surface ponds or lakes, it will affect the stability of the ice shelf and lead to sea level rise.