Antarctic ice thinning study aired

A study of thinning ice in Antarctica by University of Leeds researcher Dr Hannes Konrad has been featured on Paul Hudson’s Weather Show on BBC Radio Leeds and other BBC local radio stations.

The study, which uses satellite observations of the ice going back to the early 1990s, shows how the ice sheet has changed and thinned. While some of the ice is stable, glaciers such as Pine Island are not and researchers used the data to quantify the rate of glacier melt.

“The whole of Antarctica contains  enough water or ice to raise sea levels by 60m or so,” said Dr Konrad. “The good news is that’s not going to happen … but some of the glaciers are in a place not so safe.”

Pine Island, he said, could respond in centuries or millennia: “Sea level change rates could be important in the next two centuries. We need timescales to think how to adjust for coastal communities.”

Listen to the full interview here. It can be heard until on BBC iPlayer until 7 February.