Researchers: So much is melting Greenland and Antarctica

Over the past decade, the rate of sea level rise has increased. Researchers already know that melting ice from Greenland and Antarctica is a major contributing factor to that. Using a new satellite, NASA, in collaboration with an American research group, has been able to make detailed measurements showing how the inland ice on Greenland and Antarctica has changed over 16 years.  

Dark red spots on satellite images from Antarctica and Greenland show where the greatest loss of ice has occurred. On inland ice, it is common to both add and melt away ice, but warmer summers have led to it disappearing more than it freezes. In Greenland, most of the ice melts away along the coast. In Antarctica, similar developments are taking place. Admittedly, the inland ice grows thicker, but along the coast, especially in western Antarctica, the amount of melted ice exceeds that which has been added.  

- It has long been known that the ice melts. What is new is the high quality of the data and how clear the difference is in different areas. It seems undeniable now that something is happening in the West Antarctica that stands out in comparison to other coastal areas, says Anna Wåhlin, professor of oceanography at the University of Gothenburg. 

200 gigatons of ice disappear from Greenland every year. In Antarctica, it reaches the figure of 118 gigatons. It is a huge amount, in total it is enough to fill 127 million Olympic-size swimming pools.   

In Greenland, it is the shrinking inland ice that contributes to the rising sea level and in Antarctica, sea level increases are due to the shelf ice that melts in the water. Shelf fishes are glaciers that float on top of the water. When they melt, the sea level is not raised because they are already floating, but they act as barriers and slow down molten inland ice from flowing into the sea.