Getty Images photographer Mario Tama recently spent several days accompanying NASA scientists making 12-hour research flights over West Antarctica. NASA's Operation IceBridge has been studying how polar ice has evolved over the past eight years. The data and observations are being used to determine the state of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet—and whether it is in an irreversible state of decline, accelerating the global rise of sea levels. Tama reports that “NASA and University of California, Irvine researchers have recently detected the speediest ongoing Western Antarctica glacial retreat rates ever observed.”
Flying Above Antarctica With NASA's Operation IceBridge
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Read moreA section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with mountains is viewed from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 28, 2016 in-flight over Antarctica. NASA's Operation IceBridge has been studying how polar ice has evolved over the past eight years and is currently flying a set of 12-hour research flights over West Antarctica at the start of the melt season. #
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Read moreA tabular iceberg floats near the coast of West Antarctica as seen from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 27, 2016. Tabular icebergs can measure many miles in length and are often formed after calving from ice shelves. #
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Read moreGeoscientist David Gallaher checks on a mission instrument inside the cargo hold of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 27, 2016 in-flight over Antarctica. #
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Read moreAn iceberg (Lower R) floats among sea ice streaks viewed near the coast of West Antarctica from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 28, 2016. #
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Read moreA section of ice near the coast of West Antarctica, viewed from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 31, 2016. #
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Read moreNASA flight crew members work inside the cockpit of the NASA Operation IceBridge DC-8 research airplane on October 27, 2016 flying from the coast of Chile, in-flight towards Antarctica. #
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Read moreAn iceberg floats near the coast of West Antarctica on October 27, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreIce floats near the coast of West Antarctica as seen from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 27, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreMountains stand near the coast of West Antarctica, photographed on October 27, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreTabular icebergs float near the coast of West Antarctica as seen from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 28, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreIceBridge Project Scientist Nathan Kurtz looks out over ice near the coast of West Antarctica on October 31, 2016 in-flight over Antarctica. #
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Read moreA section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, viewed from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 28, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreSea ice surrounds Bransfield island, photographed on October 27, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreMountains near the coast of West Antarctica are viewed from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane on October 27, 2016. #
Mario Tama / Getty -
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Read moreIce is viewed near the coast of West Antarctica on October 28, 2016 in-flight over Antarctica. #
Mario Tama / Getty
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