What makes the Antarctic ice sheet so vulnerable?

Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey warn there is a realistic chance of a massive loss of Antarctic ice if levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise.

Massive Blue iceberg in Antarctica Source: Moment RF / David Merron Photography/Getty Images

This team of scientists is drilling deep into the ice sheet, 650 meters deep, to extract a piece of Antarctic ice core.

Their tents were set up on an isolated, hostile, uninhabited ice land on the Skytrain Ice Rise in Antarctica.

By investigating the depths of ice on the continent, scientists from Cambridge University and the British Antarctic Survey are working to understand what makes the Antarctic ice sheet so vulnerable.

The drill had extracted large chunks of ice core measuring 80 cm, which were then cut out for further analysis.

House in Antartic - Photo courtesy of Torsten Dederichs under unsplah free license

Scientists here spent three months drilling between 2018 and 2019. The

extracted ice core contains air bubbles, which are direct samples of the 200 year old Antarctic atmosphere.

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