East Antarctica's Denman Glacier vulnerable, likely to increase global sea level by 5 feet

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East Antarctica's Denman Glacier vulnerable, likely to increase global sea level by 5 feet
East Antarctica's Denman Glacier vulnerable, likely to increase global sea level by 5 feet

New Delhi : Denman glacier located in East Antarctica has been found melting at a reckless pace in last two decades, to eventually raise the global sea level by 5 feet, claimed NASA-led research published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

With this, the attention has once again moved towards the glacier which was earlier believed to be melting at a slower pace than the disintegrating western peninsula.

"These observations challenge the view of glacier stability in East Antarctica," the authors wrote.

Denman Glacier receded almost three miles during the period of study, 1996 to 2018, making it a topic of worry, the scientists said. Where Denman meets the sea, its eastern side is protected from warming water by a tall, rocky ridge. Its western flank is a sitting duck for higher-temperature currents washing in and melting ice. The land under many glaciers slopes downward from the interior of the continent to the sea. With Denman’s western flank, it’s the reverse. Its land falls as far as two miles below sea-level, which makes it both the planet’s deepest canyon on land—and much more susceptible to ice loss. The unusual slope extends almost 30 miles into the continent.

The researchers have planned to closely monitor the glacier using Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed satellites.