Antarctic Glaciers Retreating Faster than Ever

More alarming news that climate change is occurring faster than previously expected. A new study by the British Antarctic Survey shows that 300 glaciers in Antarctica have begun to move more quickly into the ocean.

Using radar images taken between 1993 and 2003, scientists at BAS in Cambridge mapped a 12 per cent increase in the average rate of movement of more than 300 glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula over the period.

“We’re only just now getting to grips with just how big these dynamic processes may be. There are still a lot of surprises out there,” said David Vaughan, a glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey and a co-author of the study.

“It is yet another example of how subpolar glaciers are responding very quickly to climate change because they are close to the temperature transition from ice to water,” Dr Vaughan said. “Scientists want to know why these things are happening because that’s the route to the prediction of future sea levels.”