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Geographical skills: How to plan for your NEA

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Question and answer: Essays and synoptic thinking: megatrends

Pre-ice-sheet glaciation of Antarctica

What was Antarctica like in the distant past? What lessons can we learn from its history?

Sea ice formation.
© Goinyk/stock.adobe.com

■ All specifications: Glaciation

At present, Antarctica – a vast continent centred on the South Pole – is unquestionably a land of ice. Glaciers cover approximately 98% of the land surface and in places are almost 5 km thick. In fact, there is so much ice that if melted it would raise global sea level by almost 60 m. Most of this ice is part of two ice sheets (see Box 1): the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets (see Figure 1).

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Geographical skills: How to plan for your NEA

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Question and answer: Essays and synoptic thinking: megatrends