K061 - Vulnerability of the Ross Ice Shelf in a Warming Globe

As climate warms, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will retreat, sea level will rise, sea ice extent will change, and the circulation of both the ocean and atmosphere will be modified.
These changes will affect Antarctic ecosystems and propagate northward through the climate system to impact Aotearoa New Zealand.
This interdisciplinary programme investigates rate-determining processes associated with deglaciation in the Ross Sea region of West Antarctica, working across many scales in space and time and visiting the sites where critical observations can be made.
Improved understanding of the coupled ice ocean-atmosphere system will reduce uncertainty in projections of future climate change.