Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


8

NASA Mission Monitors Polar Ice

Antarctica jet filling in for dying satellite

Share

(Newser) – NASA has begun a mission much closer to home than usual. The agency is flying a DC-8 over Antarctica to track melting glaciers and any subsequent rise in sea levels. Operation Ice Bridge is designed to buttress the work of a fading satellite, ICESat, which is just about spent after 7 years of service. Its replacement won't be in orbit until 2015 at the earliest, reports NPR.

"It seems important to keep an eye on these regions," says the project's lead scientist. "We wouldn't want to wake up in five or six years and have an oh-my-God moment." Although a jet can't cover as much ground as a satellite, its radar can provide more detailed information on what it does detect. One of the main trouble spots it's watching is Pine Island, where a glacier is sliding into the Amundsen Sea.

This 2003 handout photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey shows a glacier meeting the ocean at Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula.
This 2003 handout photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey shows a glacier meeting the ocean at Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula.   (AP Photo/British Antarctic Survey, Chris Gilbert)
Icebergs in Antarctica in a 2007 file photo.
Icebergs in Antarctica in a 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Roberto Candia, file)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
11.19.09
Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention
8 comments
VIEWING:
 
Doctor_Zaius
Oct 30, 09 1:07 PM CDT
Wait for it.... Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+2
Netstorm2k9
Oct 30, 09 1:21 PM CDT
I"m guessing that this has more to do with the coming battle over mineral drilling rights in the region. I'd almost think that those with a position to benefit might actually want a warmer Arctic to enable access. Hmmmm.... Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
BoZo
Oct 30, 09 2:24 PM CDT
A HA!
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
JoeQ
Oct 30, 09 2:08 PM CDT
Melting ice in the Arctic won't raise the sea level because its floating. There will be new sea lanes in the Arctic, maybe sea floor development, maybe polar bear extinction in the wild. Melting ice in the Antarctic raises the sea level if the ice isn't floating to start with. Greenland is one of the biggest sources of sea level rise from the greenhouse effect. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
my-name-here
Oct 30, 09 3:39 PM CDT
@Joe you're right about the melting Arctic ice itself not equating to higher sea levels, much like ice in a glass will not raise the level of water as it melts, but the lack of that ice will cease the cooling effect in our atmosphere that it provides, apparently leading to accelerated melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica, not to mention glaciers and the thawing of perma-frost releasing additional carbon dioxide into the atomsphere warming it further still.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1

View all 8 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

274 Stories

 Climate Skeptics: 
 Hacked Emails 
 Prove We're Right 

Scientist talks about adding a 'trick' to graph

Nov 21, 09 10:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Hackers have gotten their hands on a trove of emails from leading climate scientists, and global warming skeptics are rejoicing. They say the emails prove the crisis is overblown and are crowing about one in particular, from 1999, in which a scientist plans to add a "trick" to a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • global warming • email • scientists • skeptics • hacking

 Globe on Course for 'Worst-Case' Temp Hike

6 degree rise predicted if Copenhagen deal fails

Nov 18, 09 4:08 AM CST
(Newser) - The worst-case scenario for climate change is getting closer to becoming reality, a group of climate scientists warned yesterday. World temperatures are on course to rise an average of 6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the Global Carbon Project researchers. Experts believe a temperature rise... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • global warming • carbon emissions • Copenhagen climate change conference

Break Stuff to Save the Planet: Gore

Former VP endorses civil disobedience against climate change

Nov 6, 09 4:15 PM CST
(Newser) - Al Gore says nonviolent disruption of polluters and airports is justified considering the grave threat posed by climate change. "Civil disobedience has an honorable history, and when the urgency and moral clarity cross a certain threshold, then I think that civil disobedience is quite understandable, and it has a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • Al Gore • global warming • Copenhagen • civil disobedience • US Senate • Copenhagen climate change conference

274 Stories


Science & Health 
TwitterFollow @NewserScience on Twitter

 
climate change • NASA • global warming • sea level • Antarctica • satellite • glacier • polar ice caps

from our news partners