#TakeOnTomorrow
Summer 2021 • northumbria.ac.uk
Issue 23
TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE
PARTNERSHIP SPARKS INTO LIFE
SPINOUT SUCCESS
Shining a light on the Northumbria research addressing climate change, both on Earth and in space!
Northumbria signs landmark partnership deal with world-leading battery technology investor, Britishvolt.
Turn to pages 4-5 to find out more.
Discover more on page 6.
Read about the Northumbria spinout company, whose product could revolutionise disease diagnosis, on page 14
Researchers find first evidence confirming glacier’s tipping point DR SEBASTIAN ROSIER ON PINE ISLAND GLACIER IN 2015
“THE POTENTIAL FOR THIS REGION TO CROSS A TIPPING POINT HAS BEEN RAISED IN THE PAST, BUT OUR STUDY IS THE FIRST TO CONFIRM THAT PINE ISLAND GLACIER DOES INDEED CROSS THESE CRITICAL THRESHOLDS.” DR SEBASTIAN ROSIER
Northumbria University researchers have found the first evidence that one of Antarctica’s biggest glaciers could reach the ‘point of no return’ at the speed it is melting into the sea, which would have significant consequences for the global sea level. At approximately two-thirds the size of the UK, Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is already a cause for concern for scientists as it is losing more ice than any other glacier on the continent. Pine Island and the neighbouring Thwaites glacier are responsible for around 10% of global sea level rise. If Pine Island was to cross what is known as a ‘tipping point’, it would undergo an irreversible retreat from which it could not recover. This could lead to the collapse of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which contains enough ice to raise
the global sea level by over three metres, causing devastation to many coastal and delta regions. Although scientists have argued for some time that the region could cross a tipping point, researchers from Northumbria’s Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences are the first to find evidence showing how it might happen. Northumbria is home to a team of experts in ice modelling who have used a state-of-the-art ice flow modelling tool developed at the University which can identify tipping points within ice sheets.
They have found that Pine Island Glacier has at least three distinct tipping points, the third of which – triggered by a 1.2 ºC increase in ocean temperatures – would lead to the irreversible retreat of the entire glacier. Dr Sebastian Rosier, a ViceChancellor’s Research Fellow and lead author of the study, explained: “The potential for this region to cross a tipping point has been raised in the past, but our study is the first to confirm that Pine Island Glacier does indeed cross these critical thresholds.
“Many different computer simulations around the world are attempting to quantify how a changing climate could affect the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but identifying whether a period of retreat in these models is a tipping point is challenging. “However, it is a crucial question and the methodology we use in this new study makes it much easier to identify potential future tipping points.” Hilmar Gudmundsson, Professor of Glaciology and Extreme Environments, worked with Dr
Rosier on the study. He added: “The possibility of Pine Island Glacier entering an unstable retreat has been raised before but this is the first time that this possibility is rigorously established and quantified. Continues on Pg. 2