Greenland Ice Melting at Record Rate
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12.12.07
Image courtesy of kaet44
Speaking at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado, Boulder, painted a grim picture of Greenland's current state, describing the amount of ice it lost over the past year as "the equivalent of two times all the ice in the Alps or a layer of water more than one-half-mile deep covering Washington, D.C."
The volume of water unleashed by the melting ice raised global sea levels by close to 2 one-hundredths of an inch; were all of Greenland's ice to melt, Steffen predicts, sea levels could be lifted by as much as 21 ft - an unlikely possibility. A 7°F increase since 1991 contributed to another record ice melting year, 10% more than the previous one set in 2005.
While snowfall increases have helped buffer Greenland's interior, the thawing of glaciers all around the coast have more than offset any gain made over the last few years; since measurements began in 1979, Steffen estimates that melting has jumped by 30%.
This follows a set of findings released earlier this year that indicated that the arctic ice cap has been melting at an unprecedented rate - enough that the Northwest Passage has now become fully navigable.
Via ::McClatchy: Greenland ice melts at record rate, scientists find (news website)
See also: ::NASA Finds Greenland Becoming More Green by the Day, ::Global Warming Beer: Greenland Brews with Melting Ice Cap
volume of water unleashed by the melting ice raised global sea levels by close to 2 one-hundredths of an inch, thats really a lot!
If every one in the world took care of their part in a honorable, loving fashion. We would have no environmental problems. Waukez.
We know its melting. We know its only going to keep melting faster until something significant is done and nothing significant has been done. If you live on the coast and your not significantly above sea level you may want to move now.
We know its melting. We know its only going to keep melting faster until something significant is done and nothing significant has been done. If you live on the coast and your not significantly above sea level you may want to move now.
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/arctic-sea-ice-47121205
This is almost a 180 from this article... Interesting...
Record Refreeze!!! Don't be silly now. The article has a very good explanation of why it is a "record" refreeze. The rapid Arctic ice melt during October-November gave way to more room for the sea to refreeze during the colder months. More room = More ice... YAY! :)
Lets not be overly optimistic here, the world is not healing itself. The Arctic ice is just going through its cycle. AWWW :(
Thanks for the interesting link Anonymous person above me.
~It is awfully hot in Houston.
Recent publicized geology papers indicate a new “hot spot” where magma carry heat to the surface has been discovered/mapped but not fully measured – may be responsible for a large part of the Greenland melt-off.
So, is it Global Warming or a warming globe (earth)?
See more at these links.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22246005/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071212103004.htm
Of course, others may disagree.
Recent publicized geology papers indicate a new “hot spot” where magma carry heat to the surface has been discovered/mapped but not fully measured – may be responsible for a large part of the Greenland melt-off.
So, is it Global Warming or a warming globe (earth)?
See more at these links.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22246005/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071212103004.htm
Of course, others may disagree.
Don, I took the time to read both of your links. Based on what I read, your statements are a little misleading, and this new research in no way puts into question the IPCC concesus about global warming. All it does is shed more light about the interaction of global warming and geothermal heating on ice melt conditions and patterns. But thanks nevertheless for putting those links under this article.
why has the rat of melting increased only in greenland?