Green Daily

A team of British scientists working in West Antarctica have found that ice sheets there are moving much rapidly than expected into the ocean. How much faster? Well, we're talking glaciers here, not NASCAR, so they're only travelling at a speed of just over 2 miles per year, which would still give you plenty of time to dodge out of the way if you happened to be standing in front of one.

It's important, however, because it's much faster than has been tracked in the past and could have serious implications for global sea level. The largest of the accelerating glaciers is the Pine Island Glacier, which at 18 miles across and more than a mile thick, is dumping a lot of ice into the sea even at that speed.

Researchers had already been concerned during the 90's when satellite measurements showed the ice accelerating at a rate of about 1% a year. By comparison, during the last season the speed of movement increased by an astonishing 7%.

The reason for the change remains uncertain, and it's thought that it may have something to do with warmer ocean water reaching the Antarctic coast, or geothermal activity underneath the continent.

Whatever the reason, if the entire area were to lose its ice coverage, the outcome could be a global sea level rise of 4 to 5 feet over a couple of decades.