Southern Ocean Team

[Image shows Steve Rintoul with text: CSIRO & ACE CRC, talking to the camera with a large ship in the background.]

Steve Rintoul: Sea level rise is a huge environmental challenge,

[Image changes to show a shot of large ice glaciers with text at the bottom: Australian Antarctic Division]

in the largest uncertainty in estimates of future sea level rise is the question of Antarctica. What will happen to the Antarctic ice sheet? What we’re discovering is the fate of the Antarctic ice sheet lies in the surrounding oceans.

[Image changes to show the ship, Aurora Australis, then different images flash by of scientists conducting experiments from the ship]

In 2015 we took the Australian ice breaker Aurora Australis to the Totten Glacier, the first ship to ever reach the ice. And what we discovered was a river of warm water pouring into the cavity and melting the ice from below.

[Image changes back to Steve talking to the camera]

And what this tells us is that sea level is likely to rise faster and further than our current estimates project.

[Slide appears with sponsors logos and text: This research was conducted and funded by: CSIRO, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC, Antarctic Gateway Partnership: A special Research Initiative of the Australian Research Council, IMOS, Integrated Marine Observing System, Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Antarctic Division and Australian Antarctic Program]