Webcast: Secrets of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
A Panel Discussion About Global Warming, Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels
More than 30 of the World’s leading polar ice experts will meet in Austin Texas from 26-28 March 2007 to explore the scientific consensus about one of the most urgent issues facing society – future sea-level rise.
In the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 Summary for Policy Makers it was acknowledged that scientific effort is required to resolve the uncertainties about Antarctica’s role in future sea-level rise.
The scientists will combine their collective knowledge and latest research to address fundamental questions concerning the Amundsen Sea embayment – the most rapidly changing drainage basin of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
On March 28, 2007 at 7 pm (central) Dr. David Vaughan, British Antarctic Survey, will present his research on the affects of global warming on Antarctica Ice Sheets and Sea Levels.
Talk Description: In parts of Antarctica rates of climate warming are the highest in the Southern Hemisphere – in another part, there has been a cooling. How are we to interpret this complex pattern of climate change, and what are the implications for the future of the Last Continent? A recent report by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change identifies the response of the great ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland to climate change as the greatest uncertainty in projections of sea-level rise. Why, when much other climate science seems to be converging, is there uncertainty about this part of the puzzle? In a wide ranging talk Dr. Vaughan will cast some light on these issues, which may not be as simple as the sound bites would lead us to believe.