Greenland's ice sheet melting at fastest rate in centuries
- 5 years ago
The Greenland ice sheet is melting at its fastest rate in centuries.
The steady rise in average global temperatures... is expected to speed up the pace of melting and result in rising sea levels.
Park Se-young has more.
Research earlier this year discovered that the rate of melting on the Antarctic ice sheet has tripled over the last five years.
And a new study has confirmed that a similar trend is happening in Greenland, …home to the world's second largest mass of ice.
According to research published in the journal Nature, the rate of ice melt over the last 20 years has been as much as five times higher than pre-industrial melt rates, …and rising global average temperatures will accelerate the melting speed.
Melting ice in Greenland is the largest single contributor to global sea level rise today, …adding point-eight millimeters of water to the world's sea level every year.
If it melts in its entirety, the ice sheet has the potential to raise global sea levels by seven meters, …threatening low-lying cities and islands.
The researchers analyzed melt layers in ice cores in western Greenland to create a record spanning 350 years, …the first continuous, multi-century analysis of melting and runoff on the ice sheet.
They found that melting on the Greenland ice sheet sped up in the mid-1800s, …shortly after the onset of industrial-era warming in the Arctic.
Both the UN Environment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have sounded the alarm over the current climate trajectory, …and the need to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.
The steady rise in average global temperatures... is expected to speed up the pace of melting and result in rising sea levels.
Park Se-young has more.
Research earlier this year discovered that the rate of melting on the Antarctic ice sheet has tripled over the last five years.
And a new study has confirmed that a similar trend is happening in Greenland, …home to the world's second largest mass of ice.
According to research published in the journal Nature, the rate of ice melt over the last 20 years has been as much as five times higher than pre-industrial melt rates, …and rising global average temperatures will accelerate the melting speed.
Melting ice in Greenland is the largest single contributor to global sea level rise today, …adding point-eight millimeters of water to the world's sea level every year.
If it melts in its entirety, the ice sheet has the potential to raise global sea levels by seven meters, …threatening low-lying cities and islands.
The researchers analyzed melt layers in ice cores in western Greenland to create a record spanning 350 years, …the first continuous, multi-century analysis of melting and runoff on the ice sheet.
They found that melting on the Greenland ice sheet sped up in the mid-1800s, …shortly after the onset of industrial-era warming in the Arctic.
Both the UN Environment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have sounded the alarm over the current climate trajectory, …and the need to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.