Monitoring the Antarctic ice sheet is therefore of paramount importance and satellite data plays a crucial role in this effort. The study of post-glacial rebound provides important insights into the structure and behaviour of Earth's interior, and how it responds to changes in the surface environment over long timescales. Recent research had found that West Antarctica is rising faster than anywhere else in the world, thanks to data from ESA’s GOCE gravity mission. This process is still occurring today in places such as Canada, Scandinavia, and Greenland, where the land is still rebounding from the weight of the glaciers that once covered the region. As the glaciers melted and receded, the mantle slowly rebounded back to its original position over thousands of years, causing the land above it to rise. During the last ice age, large portions of Earth's surface were covered by glaciers, causing the underlying mantle to deform and sink. One consequence of this squishy interior is a process known as post-glacial rebound. This squishy consistency allows the mantle to flow and move over geological timescales, which is responsible for phenomena such as plate tectonics, volcanic activity and earthquakes. Coral bleaching can lead to the death of the coral, which can have knock-on effects on the wider ecosystem.Įarth’s interior is not solid, but rather has a semi-solid or ‘squishy’ consistency owing to high temperatures and pressures. Rising temperatures can also have a direct impact on coral reefs, causing coral bleaching, which occurs when corals expel the algae that live in their tissues and provide them with food. By using satellite technology to measure ocean colour, temperature and salinity, scientists can track changes in ocean chemistry and detect areas where acidification is occurring. ESA research has shown how our ocean waters have become more acidic over the last three decades and how this is having a detrimental effect on marine life. Unfortunately, coral reefs are under threat from a range of environmental factors, including ocean acidification, rising temperatures and global warming.
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