Recent science has shown it is inevitable that the warming Southern Ocean will speed up the melting of parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) regardless of our future carbon dioxide emissions. The WAIS holds enough ice to raise the sea level by 5 meters if completely melted.
An international team, including researchers from Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is attempting to drill for mud and rocks holding critical insights about the fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Since arriving at Crary Ice Rise (CIR) our drill team have made great progress setting up the hot water drilling system inside the big orange drill tent, and assembling the…