Monday, March 16, 2015

Melting Ice means Gravity Shift for Antartica

Somehow I missed this Slate article published last fall that reported on the European Space Agency's conclusion that loss of ice between 2009 and 2012 caused a dip in the gravity field over the West Antartica:
Though we all learned in high-school physics that gravity is a constant, it actually varies slightly depending on where you are on the Earth’s surface and the density of the rock (or, in this case, ice) beneath your feet. During a four-year mission, the ESA satellite mapped these changes in unprecedented detail and was able to detect a significant decrease in the region of Antarctica where land ice is melting fastest.
The change may not be not felt by the average penguin, but the changing water level, coast lines and weather patterns brought about by the melting ice is being felt by us all.