Antarctic Science Why U.S. Leadership and Investments Matter (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 28-40
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From page 28... ...
Cutting-Edge Science at the Edge of the World The scientists who study Antarctica today Some elements of Antarctic science have continue a tradition of bold ideas, open obvious, direct importance to human well-being, collaboration, and innovative infrastructure that such as tracking space weather that can disable has propelled Antarctic research for decades. electronic technologies; understanding and Aided by numerous advances in technology managing risks to species that could influence and research methods in the past few years, our food supply through their role in marine researchers are pushing the bounds of our food chains; and understanding the risks of knowledge further than ever before to ask -- and sea level rise that could inundate many coastal answer -- urgent and longstanding questions communities.
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From page 29... ...
continue supporting the diverse array of novel investigations proposed by individuals and small As discussed in a 2020 statement from a research teams and support larger coordinated coalition of national science academies,29 initiatives to advance understanding in three "Basic research is an essential complement to key areas: (1) the changing Antarctic ice sheet mission-oriented research and development, and how this change contributes to rising sea which target specific problems or commercial levels, (2)
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From page 30... ...
SOURCE: Aleksandra Mazur. Recent studies suggest that the portion of where the ice sheet extends beyond the coastline Antarctica's ice sheet over West Antarctica into the sea, pathways that feed warmer water to has been losing mass at an accelerating rate this area, and the calving fronts where ice breaks as a result of warming ocean waters.
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From page 31... ...
Better understanding of past ice sheet collapse can yield valuable insights into possible future ice sheet dynamics and implications for global sea level rise. Scientists at Cavity Camp, Eastern Thwaites Glacier Ice Shelf, December 27, 2020.
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From page 32... ...
level could lead to advances in medicine and For many decades, biologists and ecologists biotechnology -- for example, by uncovering have marveled at the surprising adaptations of new compounds to fight cancer or antibioticAntarctic life and mapped intricate interactions resistant bacteria. These techniques can also within the continent's icy ecosystems.
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From page 33... ...
CMB research has the sensitivity of CMB measurements by an been flourishing for many years in two major order of magnitude. CMB-S4 would involve experimental programs at the South Pole: the the installation of new telescopes at the South 10-meter dish South Pole Telescope and the Pole and in the high-altitude deserts of Chile.
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From page 34... ...
A few examples of conducted in the Dry Valleys, led primarily by recent and ongoing activities that illustrate the United States, New Zealand, and Italy's both the scientific and societal importance of Antarctic programs, and an interdisciplinary Antarctic research are highlighted here. NSF Long Term Ecological Research project has been running in the region for nearly three THE DRY VALLEYS LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL decades.32 As one exciting outcome of this work, RESEARCH PROGRAM in 2015 scientists announced evidence of a salty aquifer that lies beneath the ground, which An area known as the McMurdo Dry Valleys may support previously unknown microbial is Antarctica's largest ice-free region and the ecosystems and could even retain evidence of coldest desert on the planet.
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From page 35... ...
cases, subglacial lakes may represent a refuge for A follow-on project called Subglacial Antarctic life that exists nowhere else on Earth. Lakes Scientific Access ran from 2016 to 2020 and focused on Subglacial Lake Mercer, which Two projects have begun to surface important also lies beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet.
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From page 36... ...
THE ICECUBE NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY energy cosmic events such as supernovae, black The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a set 34 holes, gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, of detectors deployed in the deep ice (1.4–2.4 and other phenomena. In 2013, IceCube scientists kilometers)
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From page 37... ...
Coordinating sophisticated sensors can operate autonomously satellite measurements with POLENET in ice-covered waters, sampling factors such measurements also allows scientists to study as nutrients, pH, and phytoplankton biomass how polar ice sheets contribute to changing sea in the upper 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) of the levels around the world.
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From page 38... ...
It led to the creation in 2011 of the first complete been used to map Antarctica's land and ice map of the speed and direction of ice flow in Antarctica, include the following: including in the previously uncharted East Antarctica. The maps showed glaciers flowing thousands of miles from the continent's interior to its coast, an observation that is essential for tracking contributions to sea level rise.
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From page 39... ...
:1239–1242. Center used these remote sensing data to develop the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica -- a groundbreaking, high-resolution terrain map of nearly the Scientists also used NASA's ICESat and ICESat-2 satellite entire continent.39 These detailed mapping capabilities laser altimetry to quantify changes in ice sheet mass from have bolstered Antarctic research by allowing scientists to 2003 to 2019.40 They found competing climate processes directly measure changes in the surface of the continent at work: ice shelves are losing mass due to increased over time and to better understand the forces -- such as melting along the coasts, while the interior of the ice sheet changing snow cover, motion of ice, or thinning of is gaining mass due to increased snow accumulation.
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From page 40... ...
For example: Antarctic has grown tremendously over the past • By better understanding the process driving several decades, and yet much more remains to changes in the Antarctic's massive ice be discovered. Many of the places, processes, and sheet, we can better foresee and plan for sea ecosystems in Antarctica remain as mysterious level rise that could reshape coastlines and as those on other planets.
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