Ice floats on the surface of the sea in the western Antarctic peninsula, on March 05, 2016. Waddling over the rocks, legions of penguins hurl themselves into the icy waters of Antarctica, foraging to feed their young. Like seals and whales, they eat krill, an inch-long shrimp-like crustacean that forms the basis of the Southern Ocean food chain. But penguin-watchers say the krill are getting scarcer in the western Antarctic peninsula, under threat from climate change and fishing. AFP PHOTO/EITAN ABRAMOVICH / AFP / EITAN ABRAMOVICH (Photo credit should read EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP/Getty Images)
A study published in Nature says global warming could disintegrate the vast ice Antarctic ice sheet sooner than originally thought. That would mean a 3-foot sea level rise by the year 2100 and a 50-foot rise by the year 2500, something that would endanger coastal cities. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Richard Alley, a professor at Pennsylvania State University and one of the study's co-authors.
Guest
Richard Alley, professor in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State.
