The thinning of one part of an ice shelf can speed up ice movement in another part of the ice shelf up to 900 kilometres away, a computer model suggests. The finding is concerning because many ice shelves are already being thinned by warm sea water flowing beneath them.

Ronja Reese of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany has been using a computer model of ice shelves to explore the consequences of this thinning. Her team recently ran simulations to …