Globally, the rate of ice melting is accelerating with climate change, on land and water, in the northern hemisphere and in the southern hemisphere.
Since 1994, satellite images have revealed that more than 28 trillion tons of ice have melted in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as in the Arctic Ocean and the South.
Taken together, the loss equates to a layer of ice about 100 meters thick about the size of the UK. Arctic sea ice melting water and the Antarctic ice sheet make up half of this mass.
“The ice sheets now follow the worst global warming scenarios set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” says Thomas Slater, who studies land and ice altimetry at the University of Leeds.
“Rising sea levels on this scale will have very serious impacts on coastal communities this century.”
This is exactly what scientists have been warning us for decades, and finally reality is coming to us with no signs of slowing down.
Over the 23-year study period, researchers saw about a 60% increase in the overall ice loss rate.
(Planetary Visions / ESA / NASA)
Above: according to the European Space Agency (ESA), “one trillion tons of ice can be thought of as a 10x10x10-kilometer ice cube. ”In this illustration, this ice cube, which ESA says would be taller than Everest, over the city of Nova York.
Just last year, the floating ice cover in the Arctic Ocean reached its lowest extent since 1979, when satellite recordings began, and Antarctica experienced a melting event as opposed to everything the experts had seen before.
The loss of ice from the Earth is clearly accelerating and has horrible results. As atmospheric temperatures continue to rise and ocean temperatures continue, melting sea ice and mountain glaciers around the world are succumbing to climate change.
Satellite observations reveal that glaciers are some of the hardest hit by climate change, especially those in Greenland, Alaska and the southern Andes. Although glaciers account for only 1% of the Earth’s total ice volume, researchers found that they contributed nearly a quarter of the global ice loss.
Between 1994 and 2017, satellite observations reveal 6.1 trillion tonnes of ice melted from mountain glaciers, 3.8 trillion tonnes of the Greenland ice sheet were lost and 2.5 trillion tons disappeared from the Antarctic ice sheet.
In general, they are 35 millimeters (1.4 inches) above sea level and, although the southern ice has proven to be more resistant, it is also beginning to crumble.
Since 2012, the rate of ice loss in Antarctica has tripled compared to the previous two decades, and this is mainly due to the widespread melting of glaciers and the thinning of ice shelves.
Rising atmospheric temperatures have also begun to take their toll on floating ice, causing the older, thicker slabs to break. While this type of smelting does not directly contribute to rising sea levels, that does not mean it is not a threat.
“One of the key roles of Arctic sea ice is to reflect solar radiation back into space to help keep the Arctic cool,” explains Isobel Lawrence, a University of Leeds sea ice remote sensing specialist.
“As sea ice shrinks, the oceans and atmosphere absorb more solar energy, causing the Arctic to heat up faster than anywhere else on the planet. This not only causes the acceleration of the melting of sea ice also exacerbates the melting of glaciers ice sheets that cause sea levels to rise. “
For every inch of sea level rise, experts predict that one million people are in danger of being displaced. In addition, mountain glaciers are a critical source of fresh water for many local communities.
As the data is published, what scientists feared most is most likely.
If things continue in the same line, some think there is a possibility that by 2035 the Arctic will be virtually ice-free.
Other studies show that the melting of Greenland ice has already passed the point of no return.
In the south, more than half of the ice shelves that support the Antarctic ice sheet are on the brink of buckling.
From wherever we look, the cryosphere faces a catastrophe.
The study was published in The cryosphere.