The Study of Antarctica Using the ERS-1 Radar Altimeter

Over the last decade, the world’s attention has become increasingly focussed on the issue of climate change, and in particular change deemed due to man’s activities. The impact of human activity is felt throughout the world, but is superimposed on a background of complex natural variability. In the polar regions, however, and particularly in Antarctica, some anthropogenic impacts stand out more clearly. Analysis of historical levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide from ice coring, for example, shows a clear increase correlated with industrial development over the last two hundred years.