Saturday, December 1, 2012

Polar Ice Sheets Are Melting 3 times Faster Now!

 

Researchers from NASA and the European Space Agency have worked together to study the rate of ice sheet meeting in Greenland and Antarctica. They found that the ice sheets are melting 3 times faster than in the 90s.

The melted ice sheets will raise the sea-level by 0.04 inches annually, compared to only 0.01 inches 20 years ago. Since 1992 the melted ice sheets have raised the sea-level by 0.44 inches. Greenland contributes about 2/3 of the losses and 1/3 is from Antarctica.

According to scientist Erik Ivins from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "...the pace of ice loss from Greenland is extraordinary, with nearly a five-fold increase since the mid-1990s, ... In contrast, the overall loss of ice in Antarctica has remained fairly constant, with the data suggesting a 50-percent increase in Antarctic ice loss during the last decade."

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