Sea level rise from Antarctica’s enigmatic submarine basins and the global, multidisciplinary effort to understand them

Recently, satellites have revealed an ice sheet vulnerable to climate change, exposing a global threat. Much of the alarm followed the discovery of vast submarine basins containing over 12 metres of potential sea level rise in naturally vulnerable ice. Past records indicate that the ocean rose six to nine metres above present levels during the last interglacial period. Since 2008, coordinated, international exploration has enabled computer models to begin evaluating their capacity for future retreat.

Overview