An unmanned submersible robot named 'Ran' has offered scientists a sneak peek into the mysterious and never-known world existing beneath the Antarctic ice shelves which have been melting in the wake of climate change.&nbsp;

The robot, which has cutting-edge sonar, spent 27 days travelling underneath the Dotson Ice Shelf which covers a wide expanse of 1000 kilometres and reveals the never-before-seen details regarding these icy expanses.

<h2>All about Antarctic Dotson Ice Shelf melt</h2>

The Dotson Ice Shelf is an important place located in West Antarctica. They are not at all flat but have passive expanses of ice shelves which keep evolving.&nbsp;

They have thick bodies of glacial ice which are sustained by land-based glaciers. What makes these ice shelves unique is the fact that they float at the top of the sea and ice shelf cavities exist beneath them.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/antarctic-temperatures-rise-10c-above-average-experts-are-calling-it-a-near-record-heatwave-746539">Antarctic temperatures rise 10C above average, experts are calling it a near-record heatwave</a>

In its recent mission, Ran focused on one cavity which unravelled new secrets regarding the melting patterns and structures of the ice shelves.

The Dotson Ice Shelf also plays an important role in the overall stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet and how the sea levels will rise in future because of their size and location.

<h2>What's hidden beneath the ice sheets of Antarctica?</h2>

In the glacial exploration, it was found that the ice was melting faster where its base was eroded by strong underwater currents.&nbsp;

However, the scientists were left stunned after finding the irregularity of the base itself.

It was discovered that the surface beneath Antarctica is not smooth, but the underwater landscape is filled with peaks, valleys, plateaus and formations similar to sand dunes.

According to the team, these features are likely to have been formed by flowing water under the influence of rotation of the Earth.

Watch:&nbsp;Climate change is raising intensity of typhoon

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/climate-change-is-raisin-intensity-of-typhoon-746193/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

“By navigating the submersible into the cavity, we were able to get high-resolution maps of the ice underside. It’s a bit like seeing the back of the moon for the first time,” stated lead author Anna Wåhlin, Professor of Oceanography at the&nbsp;University of Gothenburg&nbsp;in Sweden.

The researchers have decided to again carry out the survey and document any changes. This time, the team could carry out only one dive before the robot was lost beneath the ice.

“Although we got valuable data back, we did not get all we had hoped for,” said Prof Wåhlin.

(With inputs from agencies)

An unmanned submersible robot named 'Ran' has offered scientists a sneak peek into the mysterious and never-known world existing beneath the Antarctic ice shelves which have been melting in the wake of climate change.

An unmanned submersible robot named 'Ran' has offered scientists a sneak peek into the mysterious and never-known world existing beneath the Antarctic ice shelves which have been melting in the wake of climate change. The robot, which has cutting-edge sonar, spent 27 days travelling underneath the Dotson Ice Shelf which covers a wide expanse of 1000 kilometres and reveals the never-before-seen details regarding these icy expanses. All about Antarctic Dotson Ice Shelf melt The Dotson Ice Shelf is an important place located in West Antarctica. They are not at all flat but have passive expanses of ice shelves which keep evolving. They have thick bodies of glacial ice which are sustained by land-based glaciers. What makes these ice shelves unique is the fact that they float at the top of the sea and ice shelf cavities exist beneath them. Also Read: Antarctic temperatures rise 10C above average, experts are calling it a near-record heatwave In its recent mission, Ran focused on one cavity which unravelled new secrets regarding the melting patterns and structures of the ice shelves. The Dotson Ice Shelf also plays an important role in the overall stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet and how the sea levels will rise in future because of their size and location. What's hidden beneath the ice sheets of Antarctica? In the glacial exploration, it was found that the ice was melting faster where its base was eroded by strong underwater currents. However, the scientists were left stunned after finding the irregularity of the base itself. It was discovered that the surface beneath Antarctica is not smooth, but the underwater landscape is filled with peaks, valleys, plateaus and formations similar to sand dunes. According to the team, these features are likely to have been formed by flowing water under the influence of rotation of the Earth. Watch: Climate change is raising intensity of typhoon “By navigating the submersible into the cavity, we were able to get high-resolution maps of the ice underside. It’s a bit like seeing the back of the moon for the first time,” stated lead author Anna Wåhlin, Professor of Oceanography at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The researchers have decided to again carry out the survey and document any changes. This time, the team could carry out only one dive before the robot was lost beneath the ice. “Although we got valuable data back, we did not get all we had hoped for,” said Prof Wåhlin. (With inputs from agencies)

'RAN' robot reveals the 'never-known' world existing beneath the Antarctic ice sheets. Here's what it is

The higher limit for the global rise in temperatures has now been reduced. A study says temperature rise to 2° c above the pre-industrial level could have a worse impact on the world's ice sheets.

Global warming: Polar seas could suffer acidification

Rising temperatures are causing ice sheets to recede, creating fears that Polar bears may become a thing of the past in this region.

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Limiting global warming to 1.5°C could halve how much sea levels rise due to melting ice sheets this century, according to a major new study modelling how Earth's frozen spaces will respond to ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Since 1993, melting land ice has contributed to at least half of global sea level rise and scientists have previously warned that the vast ice sheets of Antarctica were disappearing faster than worst-case scenarios.

An international team of more than 50 climate scientists combined hundreds of melt simulations of the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets, which contain enough frozen water to raise the world's seas some 65 metres (213 feet).

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They also included melt modelling from Earth's more than 220,000 glaciers, which make up only one percent of ice on the planet but contribute as much as a fifth of sea level rise.

The team analysed the models to come up with probability estimates of how much melting ice would raise oceans under a variety of emissions pathways.

They found that if mankind successfully limits warming to 1.5°C -- the goal set down in the Paris climate deal -- it could halve ice's contribution to sea level rise by 2100.

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This is compared with the roughly 3C of warming Earth would undergo if countries' current emissions-cutting pledges played out.

"Global sea level is going to continue to rise," said lead study author Tamsin Edwards, from King's College London's department of geography.

"But we could halve that contribution from ice melting if we limit warming to 1.5°C, relative to current pledges."

Antarctic uncertainty

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that the average contribution to sea level rise from melting ice at 1.5°C was 13 centimetres (five inches) by 2100, compared to the 25 centimetres currently projected.

The analysis showed that sea level rise attributed to the Greenland ice sheet would fall 70 percent if the 1.5°C target was met, and land-based glaciers' contribution would roughly halve.

However the projections were less clear and varied widely when it came to Antarctica.

Co-author Sophie Nowicki, from the NASA Goddard Flight Center, said the uncertainty in the models was largely down to what extent increased snowfall across a warming continent would offset melting from the ice shelves.

"Greenland is really sensitive to atmospheric changes, and so in a warmer world you get more melting on the surface of the ice sheets," said Nowicki.

"In Antarctica it is very complex. A warmer world could mean more snowfall, but it could also mean more melt at the side of the icesheet."

The calculations showed a 95 percent chance that Antarctica would contribute less than 56 centimetres to sea level rise by 2100.

But under a "pessimistic scenario", the study showed, Antarctica could raise global oceans by more than that even if humanity manages to cap warming at 1.5°C.

'Irreversible' melt

A second study, also published Wednesday in Nature, found that limiting warming to 2C above industrial levels was likely to maintain the current rate of ice melt in Antarctica.

However, if current emissions-cutting pledges are not intensified by 2060, the models showed that the continent could contribute half a centimetre to sea levels every year by 2100.

Furthermore, the study warned that if emissions continue at their current levels, a tipping point will be reached around 2060 which would lead to Antarctic melt that would be "irreversible on multi-century timescales".

The research, led by a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, modelled how the ice shelves that keep the Antarctic ice sheet from collapsing into the sea were likely to respond to temperature changes this century.

With greater warming, the ice shelves thin and become more fragile, the models showed, risking accelerated melt from the ice sheet, as well as "calving", which is when large chunks of ice break off into the sea, as has happened already in parts of the Arctic.

"Global warming above 2C increases risk of exceeding a tipping point- where ice shelves thin or collapse, allowing a major acceleration in ice loss- and sea level rise," lead author Robert DeConto told AFP.

"Once set in motion, the ice retreat is unstoppable, because the buttressing ice shelves don't easily regrow in a warming ocean."

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C could halve how much sea levels rise due to melting ice sheets this century, according to a major new study modelling how Earth's frozen spaces will respond to ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C could halve how much sea levels rise due to melting ice sheets this century, according to a major new study modelling how Earth's frozen spaces will respond to ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Since 1993, melting land ice has contributed to at least half of global sea level rise and scientists have previously warned that the vast ice sheets of Antarctica were disappearing faster than worst-case scenarios. An international team of more than 50 climate scientists combined hundreds of melt simulations of the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets, which contain enough frozen water to raise the world's seas some 65 metres (213 feet). Also read | California sequoia still smoldering after 2020 fires They also included melt modelling from Earth's more than 220,000 glaciers, which make up only one percent of ice on the planet but contribute as much as a fifth of sea level rise. The team analysed the models to come up with probability estimates of how much melting ice would raise oceans under a variety of emissions pathways. They found that if mankind successfully limits warming to 1.5°C -- the goal set down in the Paris climate deal -- it could halve ice's contribution to sea level rise by 2100. Also read | Study finds air pollution spikes may impair older men’s thinking This is compared with the roughly 3C of warming Earth would undergo if countries' current emissions-cutting pledges played out. "Global sea level is going to continue to rise," said lead study author Tamsin Edwards, from King's College London's department of geography. "But we could halve that contribution from ice melting if we limit warming to 1.5°C, relative to current pledges." Antarctic uncertainty The study, published in the journal Nature, found that the average contribution to sea level rise from melting ice at 1.5°C was 13 centimetres (five inches) by 2100, compared to the 25 centimetres currently projected. The analysis showed that sea level rise attributed to the Greenland ice sheet would fall 70 percent if the 1.5°C target was met, and land-based glaciers' contribution would roughly halve. However the projections were less clear and varied widely when it came to Antarctica. Co-author Sophie Nowicki, from the NASA Goddard Flight Center, said the uncertainty in the models was largely down to what extent increased snowfall across a warming continent would offset melting from the ice shelves. "Greenland is really sensitive to atmospheric changes, and so in a warmer world you get more melting on the surface of the ice sheets," said Nowicki. "In Antarctica it is very complex. A warmer world could mean more snowfall, but it could also mean more melt at the side of the icesheet." The calculations showed a 95 percent chance that Antarctica would contribute less than 56 centimetres to sea level rise by 2100. But under a "pessimistic scenario", the study showed, Antarctica could raise global oceans by more than that even if humanity manages to cap warming at 1.5°C. 'Irreversible' melt A second study, also published Wednesday in Nature, found that limiting warming to 2C above industrial levels was likely to maintain the current rate of ice melt in Antarctica. However, if current emissions-cutting pledges are not intensified by 2060, the models showed that the continent could contribute half a centimetre to sea levels every year by 2100. Furthermore, the study warned that if emissions continue at their current levels, a tipping point will be reached around 2060 which would lead to Antarctic melt that would be "irreversible on multi-century timescales". The research, led by a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, modelled how the ice shelves that keep the Antarctic ice sheet from collapsing into the sea were likely to respond to temperature changes this century. With greater warming, the ice shelves thin and become more fragile, the models showed, risking accelerated melt from the ice sheet, as well as "calving", which is when large chunks of ice break off into the sea, as has happened already in parts of the Arctic. "Global warming above 2C increases risk of exceeding a tipping point- where ice shelves thin or collapse, allowing a major acceleration in ice loss- and sea level rise," lead author Robert DeConto told AFP. "Once set in motion, the ice retreat is unstoppable, because the buttressing ice shelves don't easily regrow in a warming ocean."

1.5C warming cap could 'halve' sea level rise from melting ice

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