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Why on Earth are climate scientists so interested in the West Antarctic ice sheet? This remote region of the seventh continent has been the subject of many recent research explorations--the results of which have been described in the news with words like "collapse," "irreversible," and "huge." Satellite and ground-based observations of the glaciers and floating ice surrounding the Pine Island Bay area reveal that much of the ice in the area has seen significant flow acceleration-meaning more ice is flowing into the ocean-since the 1970s. [Source: NOAA Climate.gov]
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