|
LASERS beamed from space have detected huge lakes of water underneath Antarctic ice. These lakes, some stretching across hundreds of square miles, fill and drain so dramatically that the movement can be seen by specially equipped satellites, the journal Science reported on Friday.
Global warming did not create these big pockets of water - they lie beneath some 2,300 feet of compressed snow and ice, too deep to be affected by temperature changes on the surface - but scientists say knowing how they behave is important to understanding the impact of climate change on the Antarctic ice sheet, study author Helen Fricker said.
About 90% of the world's fresh water is locked in the ice cap that covers Antarctica;
if it all melts, scientists estimate it could cause a 23-foot rise in world sea levels.
|
YOU ARE HERE: 11 November 2007 / tribune.ie / 2007 / 02 / 18
Terms & Conditions 
