Stronger winds heat up West Antarctic ice melt
Monday, July 17, 2017 - 12:02
in Earth & Climate
Stronger winds 6000kms away on the East Antarctic, have generated waves that circle the continent at almost 700kmh. When these waves meet the steep underwater topography of the West Antarctic Peninsula they push warm water under the ice shelves. This helps explain the increased ice melt in this region that can lead trillion tonne ice shelves, like Larsen C, to break away from the continent.