East Antarctica ice sheet melting faster

Aurora Australis in Antarctic sea ice. Image courtesy of CSIRO

CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth instrument) taking measurements in the Southern Ocean. Image courtesy of CSIRO

The Totten Glacier. Image courtesy of CSIRO

Aurora Australis alongside the Totten Glacier. Image courtesy of CSIRO

CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth instrument) taking measurements in the Southern Ocean. Image courtesy of CSIRO

Dr Steve Rintoul. Image courtesy of CSIRO

Antarctic iceberg. Image courtesy of CSIRO

The Southern Ocean. Image courtesy of CSIRO

The seas around east Antarctica are warming faster than previously predicted, which could lead to much higher rises in sea level.

The antarctic ice sheet is the largest single mass of ice on Earth, covering nearly 14 million square kilometres and containing 30 million cubic kilometers of ice. 

Ocean and climate researcher, Dr Steve Rintoul of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation recently travelled to the previously inaccessible Totten Glacier in East Antarctica. The team found evidence that warmer waters were in fact reaching the glacier, which they weren't expecting.