Thwaites Glacier in Western Antarctica.

NASA animation of Antarctic glaciers melting. NASA is hard at work on the Climate Change theory. They are looking at glaciers in the Amundsen Sea in Antarctica and projecting what will happen to them over time given current trends.

Scientists now claim that the melting of glaciers in Western Antarctica is "unstoppable." What this means is that sea levels likely will rise faster than previously thought.

According to Eric Rignot, professor of Earth system science at the University of California Irvine:

"A large sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet has gone into a state of irreversible retreat. It has passed the point of no return. The retreat of ice is unstoppable."

Well, hopefully, the good professor does not know what he is talking about and the glaciers stay where they are. However, if the calculations are correct, global warming could hit much sooner than previously thought.

The animation represents what the researchers think might happen over time. It is a useful task of animation to convert dry scientific warnings into something that anybody can understand. It is cool because it shows land that nobody has ever seen, and the water flows that would occur as the glaciers melt - if, in fact, they do melt.

From the web site:

May 12, 2014 2:22 PM EDT — A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California at Irvine finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea. (NASA)

2020