TAINAN, Taiwan - (Business Wire) Dr. Ted Scambos, the Lead Scientist of the USA National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) was invited by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) to deliver an impressive lecture, entitled “A closer look at polar ice: Formosat-2 and glacier changes in the Arctic and Antarctic” on the 20th of May. The research team, led by Dr. Scambos, has been collaborating with NCKU on the acquisition of satellite images from Formosat-2, an Earth observation satellite operated by Taiwan’s National Space Organization (NSPO). During the lecture, Dr. Scambos showed superior and high-resolution digital multi-spectral images of both Antarctica and the Arctic, which were acquired from Formosat-2 satellite to explain the relation between climate change, and disintegration and retreat of ice shelves.
Dr. Scambos personally believes that vegetarian diet probably is a good way to alleviate the global warming. Eating vegetarian has been widely accepted in many countries, like the UK and Belgium. He really concerned about the disappearance of permafrost, leading to significant emission of greenhouse gases entrapped underneath, such as carbon dioxide and methane, which, in turn, would accelerating pace of global warming and, hence, threaten the lives of human beings.
Dr. Scambos indicated that flowing water from fracture of ice shelf will deepen the fracture, eventually resulting in the cracking of ice shelf and glacier. In addition, liquid water in the cracks can drill to the base of an ice shelf, and leading to its disintegration piece by piece. During his lecture, Dr. Scambos revealed the details regarding the break-up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, and explained the importance of ice shelves. He said that the break-up of ice shelves can accelerate the sea-level rise. “Ice shelf is the key one to keep the glacier stable and the glacier up the level,” added by Dr. Scambos.
Moreover, Dr. Scambos also gave a warning resulted from the rapid break-up of the Arctic sea ice. According to Dr. Scambos, the ice layer covering the Arctic can reflect the solar heat back to space; however, the open seas uncovered by the ice will absorb more solar heat, worsening the situation in global warming. One of the impacts pondered by this phenomenon is that the drought on earth occurs more frequently with an expanding arid area.
Dr. Scambos concluded that the break-up of ice shelves and warm ocean water will result in rapid collapse of glaciers, both of which are highly correlated to severe global climate change.
The lecture by Dr. Scambos has triggered audience’s curiosity and inspired audience to raise many interesting questions regarding the Antarctica and the Arctic, including prediction on the break-up of the polar ice and how to stop the global warming. Dr. Scambos expressed that, in his opinion, he would predict the disappearance of the Arctic ice will occur not until 2020 or 2025, whereas the Antarctica ice will disappear not after 2100 because of the more solid structure of ice.
Dr. Scambos worried about the rapid ice melting in polar areas. He called on more emergent steps to curb the pace of global warming to ensure the life safety of human beings.
Two years ago, the former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, testified before Congress on climate change and the data he used on collapse of Wilkins ice shelf was indeed based on the outstanding digital images requested from Formosat-2 imagery for polar research, the joint collaboration project with NCKU.
During the lecture, Dr. Ted Scambos showed the audience four areas of interest for which Formosat-2 imagery has provided very important data: the disintegration of Antarctic Peninsula’s Wilkins Ice Shelf during February-March, 2008; the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf retreat in July-August 2008 in the Arctic coast of Ellesmere Island; glacial velocity mapping from Formosat-2 image pairs for Kangerlugssuaq Glacier in southeastern Greenland during the summer of 2008; and velocity mapping for the central Crane Glacier in the Larsen B region of the Antarctic Peninsula spanning the period February 2008 to March 2009.
About Dr. Ted Scambos
Dr. Ted Scambos received his master's degree from Virginia Tech and his PhD in Geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His interest in satellite data began when he used Landsat imagery for his PhD dissertation. He worked with NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center, studying Antarctica using satellite data. Ted's specialties include glaciology and remote sensing; geochemistry and planetary science.
Now as a Lead Scientist at NSIDC, Ted has conducted 9 field studies of the West Antarctic ice sheet and its sea ice, and several remote sensing of West Antarctic ice shelves with colleagues Dr. Christina Hulbe of Portland State University and Dr. Mark Fahnestock of the University of Maryland. His polar remote sensing research concentrates on visible and near-IR remote sensing (MODIS, Landsat 7, IKONOS), ICESat laser elevations, field GPS, and ice profiling radar studies. Recent work has taken him from unique large dune features in the center of the East Antarctic Plateau ('megadunes') to the icebergs off the shore of the Antarctic Peninsula and south of Argentina. He was part of an international team that landed on an Antarctic iceberg via helicopter to set up observational instruments for detecting changes as the iceberg drifts north and begins to melt; see 'http://nsidc.org/icetrek' for more information.
About National Snow and Ice Data Center
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder. NSIDC supports research into our world's frozen realms: the snow, ice, glaciers, frozen ground, and climate interactions that make up Earth's cryosphere. Scientific data, whether taken in the field or relayed from satellites orbiting Earth, form the foundation for the scientific research that informs the world about our planet and our climate systems.
NSIDC manages and distributes scientific data, creates tools for data access, supports data users, performs scientific research, and educates the public about the cryosphere.
For more information, please visit http://nsidc.org/about/expertise/overview.html.
About National Cheng Kung University:
With three quarters of a century of distinguished history, and with well over 120,000 powerful alumni now dotting the globe, National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, has evolved from its engineering genesis to become a powerful comprehensive, research and international university in Asia Pacific.
NCKU boasts some of the biggest and brightest stars in the arts, the business world, education, science, technology and healthcare.
With 20,000 academic selective students and 1,100 significant academic faculty members NCKU has both a healthy dose of international flavor, and enormous regional support.
NCKU has a rapidly growing culture of proactive intellectual growth on the world’s stage.
NCKU
Wei-Chen Huang, Press Officer, +886-6-275-7575 ext. 50042
Mobil: 0952-213-421
weichen@mail.ncku.edu.tw
