A mass of ice that has never been seen by human eyes could hold the answer to understanding the global impact of climate change, Australian Antarctic Division Glaciologist Dr Ben Galton-Fenzi says.
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More than 500 expeditioners will travel on the Aurora Australis ice-breaker to conduct projects across Antarctica in coming months.
Dr Galton-Fenzi will be among the first to see the Totten glacier and will record the rate at which the glacier is melting.
He said there was enough ice beneath the East Antarctic glacier to cause a global sea-level rise of 3.5 metres.
“If we were to take all of that ice and turn it into an ice cube it would have dimensions of 180 kilometres – you’d need a big martini,” Dr Glaton-Fenzi said.
“What we’re trying to do is pin down what the rate of contribution of the ice sheets to sea level rise will be over the coming century.”
The Australian Antarctic Program will support 95 projects in Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island this season.