I see today that there's an article out that currents have more to do with ice sheet melt than previously recognized. The news article to which this links is just an Associated Press article, and unfortunately when I link to Nature I don't find the article easily. I found that some of the newspaper version had some alarmist tendency, so wanted to see if it held to the author's actual efforts, but wasn't able to check. I find that very frustrating.
I find it fascinating, though, that the currents may be having more effect that air temperatures. I don't know if I agree with the interpretation that the glaciers are pulled by melt, rather than pushed by gravity and additional snow and ice on the upstream end. Especially when you consider that the terrain tends to flatten nearer coastlines. (I studied glaciers/glacial terrain when I was younger, but gave it up because I don't adapt well to cold - eczema made me so uncomfortable I couldn't concentrate on anything other than scratching!) At any rate, more to learn, consider, and think about.
