Getting Up Close With A Melting Antarctic Glacier To Study Sea Level Rise

Speaker 1: 00:00 It's a one of a kind of adventure with a bittersweet edge, a scientific expedition to the bottom of the world allowed researchers to get a rare view of the Thwaites glacier, which juts out of the West and Arctic ice sheet, the view was thrilling and other worldly, but the real world implications of the research could be devastating. This Florida sized glacier is melting and it has the potential by itself to cause sea levels to rise two feet. We're joined today by a reporter who was onboard the research ship than Nathaniel be Palmer as it sailed off the coast of Antarctica. Carolyn Beeler, environment reporter for PR eyes. The world is with us from the Wgbh studios in Boston and Caroline, welcome to the program. Thank you so much for having me. Now we've all seen pictures of glaciers, but you and the crew were so close to this magnificent ice structure. Can you try to describe what that was like? Speaker 2: 00:56 Sure. So we were on this ship, this icebreaker sailing through the southern ocean and toward Antarctica for about a month before we actually got to the glacier due to delays and other research happening. So the anticipation was really high. And we finally arrived at the face of weights glacier, about 4:00 AM so it was still dark. And I walked up to the bridge on the fifth deck to look at this glacier and it looked like a giant wall of ice, about six or seven stories tall. And at the time it was still dark, so it was sort of glowing, this ethereal blue, and it was really kind of felt magical to be up there. And I was standing next to an oceanographer or named Peter Sheehan, who works the night shift. So he was one of the, a few other people up and we sort of found ourselves whispering in front of this glacier and we didn't really know why Speaker 3: 01:52 this your first glimpse of it. Yeah. I don't see a nice shelf before really close. Yeah. Speaker 4: 02:02 Almost no one else on the ship is awake yet. And we're in a place that no one's ever been before, Speaker 3: 02:07 or maybe it's the light and it was kind of mystical. Speaker 4: 02:12 It feels almost like it's our own secret place. This kind of sacred spot. I'm whispering and I don't know why, Speaker 3: 02:25 it's like standing in a cathedral. I gotta you feel the hush of reference. Speaker 2: 02:31 So this was this magical moment, first thing in the morning. But as we sell a long waits and went further west where the glacier is more of damaged and degrading, the experienced scientists on the ship all noticed that it didn't look like an ice shelf is supposed to look. Speaker 1: 02:47 So you were actually able to see evidence of the glacial melting or instability of the ice show? Speaker 2: 02:55 Yeah. So you know, scientists are cautious folks and they'll say, you know, you can't tell everything about the health of a glacier just by looking at it. But it was something that the scientists on board had never seen before. Instead of this tall ice cliff that looks kind of like, I don't know, the top of a butcher block table or something. The ice shelf actually started slumping down toward the sea, kind of like a sledding hill. Um, and in places that looked like a bunch of craggy, blocky icebergs all sort of frozen together. So the scientists started calling this not the ice shelf, which is the name for the part of the glacier that extends out into the sea. But, um, they started using a different word for it. I'm Alon [inaudible], which means pieces of the glacier that have broken off and frozen back together. Speaker 2: 03:40 So, you know, there's this question about if we were even looking at the ice shelf anymore, um, and if it was providing any of the stabilizing force that that is the reason why this ice shelf is important. So it was very surprising to me that the experts on this glacier didn't even expect it to look like it did. What was the goal of this particular expedition? So this was the first field season of a five year, roughly $50 million effort to better understand what's happening at the weights. Um, as I mentioned, the front of the glacier that extends out into the CX, like a stabilizing force that acts like a, the cork of a wine bottle keeping inland ice from flowing out glaciers flow, which is kind of the first thing you need to know about glaciers and why they matter, but it's melting and this ice shelf is thinning and it's losing its ability to act like a cork. Speaker 2: 04:36 And scientists are trying to figure out how fast it's doing that and how much and how fast it's going to add to global sea levels. Um, because you mentioned in your intro that waits itself could add up to two feet of sea level rise, which could happen, you know, by the end of the century. But it also is holding back a bigger portion of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which could lead to something like 11 feet of global sea level rise. What specific conditions are causing the glacier to melt? Or we talk so much about climate change, but what is it specifically? Is it the warming of the ocean? So actually it's interesting because it's not what you might think in this particular ice shelf. So right now what scientists think is that a warm ocean currents are reaching the underside of this floating ice shelf and melting sweets, but it's not so much because the oceans are warming. Speaker 2: 05:33 Um, although you know, they are a little bit in this part of the world, it's because a warm layer of ocean water that's existed out in the deep water for a long time that's moved down toward Antarctica, um, by currents is now getting up onto the continental shelf in front of Antarctica and thus reaching the ice. So it's because of changing currents and changing wind patterns. Now a lot of scientists think there is a link between these changing winds, these strengthening westerly winds, but it's just such an unstudied area and there's very limited data. You know, the climate change link is not yet clear. However, when we talk about this future of potentially 11 feet of sea level rise, that will be happening because of atmospheric warming that's projected for the future. So it is a climate change issue Speaker 1: 06:25 and give us an idea, 11 feet of sea level rise that would impact coastal cities around the world. Isn't that right? Speaker 2: 06:33 That's absolutely right. Something to picture perhaps is what lower Manhattan looked like after Hurricane Sandy. Um, when we saw all this flooding down in lower Manhattan, that's something like what 11 feet of sea level rise wouldn't look like actually a bit more. That would be the new sort of base level. And that's why scientists are rushing to better understand how quickly the sea level rise might come because it's one thing to have this massive sea level rise, but it's another for it to come quickly, which is a concern here. So the idea is the ultimate goal of this research project is really to allow coastal communities and cities, um, to know when to expect the sea level rise so they can plan. Because you know, they're, they will be building infrastructure to deal with these, these projected sea level rises. Speaker 1: 07:22 Carolyn, I was wondering, how dangerous was this trip? I mean it must have been an amazing experience, but is it something that you would sign up for again? Speaker 2: 07:31 100% absolutely. It was a once in a lifetime experience, both personally and professionally as a climate change reporter. You know, you see really amazing formations in the ice and ice takes on colors and textures that you never thought it would. Of course there is a somberness to the mission because of the importance of it. But the national science foundation who charters the ship that I was on, um, you know, they're very careful and they're very experienced in these extreme conditions and they take safety extremely seriously. So there are a lot of rules. There are a lot of safety precautions, there are a lot of drills and there is an inherent risk and being so far from any other human. But, um, you know, I was not worried for my own safety at all during this, this expedition. Speaker 1: 08:19 Well, we'll hear your latest report on prs the world later today. Can you give us an idea of what part of the expedition you'll be covering in that report? Speaker 2: 08:27 Absolutely. So one of the most exciting projects that was happening on this ship was a Swedish oceanographer named Anna Volin was, uh, working to send an orange submarine and AUV down underneath the ice shelf at the weights. Now, this is a place that no one's ever seen before that, uh, no scientific instrument has ever been before. And this submarine had, had never been in Antarctic waters before this field season. So there were a lot of trials and tribulations on the way as she worked to see if she could actually get this thing under the ice shelf to measure how much warm water was getting there. And we'll be hearing that later today. I've been speaking with the world's environment reporter, Carolyn Beeler. Carolyn, thank you so much. You're very welcome. Speaker 5: 09:11 [inaudible].