Melting West Antarctic Ice Sheet: A Ticking Time Bomb

Source: BNN

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is melting due to the warming of the global ocean, a phenomenon that threatens to cause a significant rise in global sea levels. This rise, if unchecked, could have devastating impacts on coastal communities worldwide. The melting trend is likely to continue, despite global efforts to achieve net zero emissions. However, a ray of hope emerges from the Sensitivity of the WAIS to 2°C (SWAIS2C) project, which aims to gather more data on how West Antarctica reacts to warmer periods and whether emission cuts could limit the melting.



Original article

View all articles
Media clippings
Deepest-ever rock core extracted from under Antarctic ice sheet

Deepest-ever rock core extracted from under Antarctic ice sheet

18 February 2026

Analyses will help to reveal how far the West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated in the past — and what it might do in the future.

view
Media clippings
Scientists Drilled Into Antarctic Ice Until They Met Bedrock, Then Got A 228-Meter Sample Of Sediment

Scientists Drilled Into Antarctic Ice Until They Met Bedrock, Then Got A 228-Meter Sample Of Sediment

18 February 2026

Scientists have just got their hands on a 228-metre (748-foot) core sample from the muddy bedrock beneath West Antarctica’s chunky ice sheets. Inside the record-breaking sample, they discovered fossils of marine organisms that date from a time when this area was an open, ice-free ocean.

view