Antarctic Glaciers

A team from the Institute for Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University have unveiled a new website about their research, called www.AntarcticGlaciers.org.  Dr Bethan Davies wrote the website in order to promote the science of Antarctic glaciology, aiming to explain key concepts in understandable language. Bethan is a post-doctoral research associate within IGES, working on a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded project entitled, Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula on centennial to millennial timescales. Professor Neil Glasser, project leader and principle investigator said, “As this is publically-funded science, we feel that it is very important to promote our research and to explain to people what we do and why we do it. Although our results are published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, it can be difficult for people to access and understand these. We hope that www.AntarcticGlaciers.org will fill that gap”. Bethan said, “We hope that this website will be a useful educational resource, and will inspire and encourage people to find out about their natural environment, and about why Antarctica is such an important place”. This website is aligned with the National Curriculum, and should be an excellent resource for A-Level and undergraduate students alike. Bethan said, “I hope that students enjoy looking at the website, and are encouraged to pursue further research in this area”. 

Antarctic glaciers are currently changing rapidly, with ice shelves collapsing, and with glaciers accelerating and retreating. These events have the potential to directly impact upon us, as they will raise global sea levels. Scientists are concerned that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be inherently unstable. With a sea-level equivalent of 3.3 m, preventing a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet must be a global priority. This new website outlines these important themes, and describes the current impact of both past and present climatic and environmental changes on glaciers, ice streams and ice shelves in the Antarctic. The website also includes photographs from the investigator’s fieldwork in Antarctica, with the promise of more photographs to come after their next field season, scheduled in November 2012. Bethan will tweet (@Antarcticglacie) and blog from the field, so keep an eye on www.AntarcticGlaciers.org to see what she has been up to!