Can a tiny filter feeder give scientists clues into the mechanism of de-glaciation?
The truth is, the science behind climate change is dense, a layered chocolate cake full of elusive clues. Getting to the sweet spot of such science in order to understand what we are currently experiencing – rising temperatures, rising sea levels, more frequent and ferocious storms, flooding, drought, loss of biodiversity – often involves studying parts of the earth that have endured similar change before. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered by scientists to be vulnerable to collapse, which could have a deleterious impact on sea levels elsewhere. Team leader Dr David Barnes of British Antarctic Survey told Wildlife Extra, ‘The West Antarctic Ice Sheet can be considered the Achilles heel of Antarctica and because any collapse will have implications for future sea level rise it’s important that scientists get a better understanding of big deglaciation events.” During a Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), British scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discove
