On thin ice

The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, which is around twice the size of Scotland, is losing ice four times as fast as it was a decade ago, Leeds University scientists warned today.

Their research also revealed that ice thinning is now occurring much further inland. At this rate, scientists estimate that the main section of the glacier will have disappeared in just 100 years, six times sooner than was previously thought.

The Pine Island Glacier is located within the most inaccessible area of Antarctica - more than 1,000km from the nearest research base - and was overlooked for many years. Now, scientists have been able to track the glacier's development using continuous satellite measurements over the past 15 years.

'Accelerated thinning of the Pine Island Glacier represents perhaps the greatest imbalance in the cryosphere today, and yet we would not have known about it if it weren't for a succession of satellite instruments,' said Prof Andrew Shepherd, from the School of Earth and Environment at Leeds University.