Antarctic Melt 1992 -
Recently observed changes in Antarctica are widely attributed to rapid increases in regional surface air temperature as well as changing ocean currents due global warming. Climate change in the Antarctic region contributes to sea level rise, plays a critical role in global weather formation, and is a pivotal force in determining ocean currents.
In recent decades, hundreds of glaciers draining the Antarctic Peninsula have undergone systematic and progressive change. Studies raise the possibility that the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets might be far less stable than previously assumed. Recent observation of free flowing surface melt and basal melt are some of the latest indications that conditions may now be in place for rapid melt in Antarctica. The major uncertainty regarding catastrophic sea level rise due to Antarctic ice loss is when (not if) sea levels will increase dramatically.