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Dr. Mark Brandon

This event took place on 7th December 2015 at 1:00pm (13:00 GMT)
Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

 

When ice and oceans meet: the ocean driven decay of the great polar ice sheets

Dr. Mark Brandon

Key parts of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting as our climate changes – but much of this decay is hidden. It’s not increasing air temperatures which are melting the ice, it’s where the ice is contact with the ocean.

It’s easy to detect this melting using satellites, but to understand how the ocean is melting the ice and the melt rate we need to get in close to where action is – the point where the ice and the oceans meet.

In my talk I’ll describe what happens at these relatively small crucial boundaries, and explain why this is vital for the future of the ice, the future global sea level and ultimately for the climate of our planet.

Mark worked at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences before he got his PhD from the Scott Polar Research Institute (Cambridge University) and went onto work at the British Antarctic Survey and then The Open University.

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The webcast was open to 500 users



(11 minutes)

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