Assessing the vulnerability of East Antarctica to future warming

DECRA旨在通过对南极冰盖对过去气候变暖的敏感性的关键见解，解决我们对南极冰盖如何应对气候变化的理解中的主要差距。该项目将应用一套地球化学方法来确定——对于南极洲东部最脆弱的盆地——过去变暖期间冰盖损失的程度，以及冰川融水对生物生产力和南大洋环流的影响。关于冰盖和海洋如何对气候变暖做出反应的新知识，将有助于对未来海平面上升和气候做出更可靠的预测。DECRA将为管理海平面上升影响的政策决策提供强有力的证据基础，从而使澳大利亚受益。

This DECRA aims to address major gaps in our understanding of how the Antarctic Ice Sheet will respond to climate change, by enabling critical insights on its sensitivity to past climate warming. The project will apply a suite of geochemical approaches to determine – for East Antarctica’s most vulnerable basin – the extent of ice-sheet loss during past warming, and the impact of glacial meltwater on biological productivity and Southern Ocean circulation. New knowledge of how the ice sheet and ocean respond to climate warming, will lead to more reliable projections of future sea-level rise and climate. The DECRA will benefit Australia by providing a strong evidence base for policy decision-making to manage the impact of sea-level rise.