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To: Brumar89 who wrote (760152)	12/30/2013 10:34:22 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1574928

It's not the sea ice that is disappearing down there. It's land ice, which flows into the ocean, reducing the salinity, and therefore increasing freezing. ESA CryoSat Mission Confirms Antarctic Ice Loss Is On The Rise December 12, 2013 Image Caption: The CryoSat mission provides data to determine the precise rate of change in the thickness of the polar ice sheets and floating sea ice. It is capable of detecting changes as small as 1 cm per year. The information from the CryoSat will lead to a better understanding of how the volume of ice on Earth is changing and, in turn, a better appreciation of how ice and climate are linked. Credit: ESA - P. Carril Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online With news out of San Francisco this week, at the autumn meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), we learned scientists have incorrectly estimated the amount of ice being lost on the polar continent of Antarctica. This environmental faux pas directly affects the estimates on global sea level rise as well. The team presenting these findings conducted their research with the Natural Environment Research Council’s Center for Polar Observation and Modeling. In addition to their Antarctic findings, the European Space Agency (ESA) is presenting the latest scientific results from its Earth observation missions. The corrected figures, a result of three years of observation by the ESA’s CryoSat mission, show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is experiencing a loss of nearly 100 cubic miles of ice yearly. This figure is considerably more than the previous estimate which offered a related estimate of global sea level rise of over 1/10th of an inch each year between the years of 2005 and 2010. The corrected figure increases global sea level rise 15 percent above what was previously believed. “We find that ice thinning continues to be most pronounced along fast-flowing ice streams of this sector and their tributaries, with thinning rates of between 4–8 m per year near to the grounding lines – where the ice streams lift up off the land and begin to float out over the ocean – of the Pine Island, Thwaites and Smith Glaciers,” said Dr Malcolm McMillan from the University of Leeds, UK. Ice losses in West Antarctica stem from glaciers flowing off the continental shelf and into the Amundsen Sea. It is the melting of these ice sheets, and those on Greenland, that are recognized as the major contributor to sea level rise. The team was able to arrive at these new figures thanks to the CryoSat mission, which was launched in 2010. It possesses a radar altimeter that is able to penetrate cloud cover and the dark of prolonged nights, both of which are characteristics of the southernmost continent. Additionally, CryoSat is able to measure the surface height variation of ice and is able to do so in high-resolution. This, says the team, allowed them to more accurately calculate the volume of the ice observed. The study, led by Professor Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, claims the increased figures related to ice loss could very well be due to an increase in the thinning of the ice. However, they believe it is also likely CryoSat has enabled them to observe previously unseen terrain. “Thanks to its novel instrument design and to its near-polar orbit, CryoSat allows us to survey coastal and high-latitude regions of Antarctica that were beyond the capability of previous altimeter missions, and it seems that these regions are crucial for determining the overall imbalance,” Shepherd said. CryoSat is the next generation of Antarctic altimeter observation, building on the previous 20 years of observation by the ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat satellites. The ESA is already developing future satellites, as part of their Copernicus program, aimed at continual monitoring of changes in the polar ice sheets over the coming decades. The Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3 satellite series are scheduled to launch next year. The AGU annual fall meeting is attended annually by more than 20,000 Earth and space scientists, educators and students. Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113026442/antarctic-ice-loss-occurring-faster-pace-cryosat-confirms-121213/#x4BccdeYUj3dpIiz.99

To: Brumar89 who wrote (760152)	1/1/2014 10:59:44 PM
From: FJB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574928

Helicopter rescue delayed as second ship trapped in ice January 2, 2014 - 1:02PM Watch a time-lapse video of the Aurora Australis fighting through thick sea ice in a failed bid to reach trapped ship Akademik Schokalskiy in Antarctica on Monday. smh.com.au Plans to rescue 52 passengers trapped on the stricken Russian research ship Akademik Shokalskiy have been thrown into disarray after the Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long itself became stuck in pack ice, west of the Mertz Glacier. It is the second vessel to become trapped in the region in less than two weeks. Trapped: Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long sits in pack ice in Watt Bay, Antarctica. Photo: Colin Cosier There were expectations that a helicopter on the Xue Long would today begin ferrying trapped passengers off the Russian ship. The plan was for them to be transported by barge to the Aurora Australis. However, alternative rescue plans are being considered after the captain of the Xue Long requested assistance when it became trapped. The Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long, as seen from the bow of the Aurora Australis, has become stuck in sea ice. Photo: Colin Cosier Both the Xue Long and the Aurora need to be in open water to conduct the barge operation. On Wednesday, the Aurora spent most of the day and evening ploughing towards the Chinese vessel, which has not moved under its own steam for more than a day, after it requested assistance. While the Aurora made good, slow progress, coming within 2.1 nautical miles of the Chinese ship, by 1.30am on Thursday the Australian ice-breaker reached thick pack ice that it could not penetrate. “Nature took over,” Aurora captain Murray Doyle said. The Aurora is now drifting to the north-west with the surrounding pack ice, which moves with the wind and, to some extent, the current. Since 7am, it has moved more than half a nautical mile to the north-west, thwarting ice-breaking attempts in the opposite direction. The Xue Long was the first ice-breaker to reach the Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck since Christmas Day. But the Chinese ship failed to get close when it attempted to break through the ice on December 27. It is unlikely the Aurora will attempt to reach the Xue Long, which is on the other side of a pack fault line and so drifting in another direction. The ship's captain Murray Doyle and voyage leader Leanne Millhouse, from the Australian Antarctic Division, are now weighing up alternative rescue plans. The weather is clear with good visibility and a wind speed of about 22 knots. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre said it was now unlikely the rescue will go ahead today. The Xue Long's helicopter is unable to land on the Aurora due to "load rating restrictions". It is also not safe to land the helicopter next to the Aurora. All passengers on board the Russian ship are safe and well, the centre said. "This rescue is a complex operation involving a number of steps. Operations in Antarctica are all weather and ice dependent and conditions can change rapidly," it said.