Some recent studies revealed that both Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets melt at a higher pace than ever. Even more, global warming is now causing the so-called “safe” ice sheets across both Greenland and Antarctica to melt.
Last Tuesday, scientists presented the results of a study that concluded that the Eastern Antarctic Ice Shelf, deemed stable and growing, is now melting at a fast rate. The same is happening in the Southwestern Greenland region, also previously considered safe. Southwestern Greenland ice sheets are also melting faster than ever now, due to global warming.
Both these phenomena will be causing extreme weather and stronger hurricanes that would affect the East Coast of the United States and Canada, mostly.
“We’re going to see a faster and faster sea-level rise for the foreseeable future. Once you hit that tipping point, the only question is: How severe does it get?” stated Michael Bevis, the leading author of the Greenland study that observed alarming meltdown in “safe” Greenland ice sheets.
Global Warming Is Causing “Safe” Ice Sheets Across Both Greenland and Antarctica To Melt
Until now, scientists were worried about the Southeast and Northwest Greenland ice sheets which experienced constant but massive meltdown episodes. Now, the new study revealed that Southwestern Greenland region is also melting at a faster rate than the researchers expected.
Even more, both Southwest Greenland and Eastern Antarctic Ice Shelf were deemed as safe regions, not affected by global warming and ice sheet meltdown.
“Sea-level rise is an area of climate-change research where there are a lot of unknowns. But if you take ice mass off of Greenland and put it directly into the sea at a faster rate than anyone is modeling, that would imply that sea-level projections are maybe a little conservative,” said Kaitlin Keegan, a Dartmouth research associate.
“This is just another indication that these changes aren’t projections into the future or things to worry about 20 years from now. These changes aren’t distant – not in terms of time or space. If we lose ice mass from Greenland or Antarctica and seas rise, that will be felt globally, not just in the Arctic or the Antarctic,” also said Eric Klein from the University of Alaska.
Vadim is a passionate writer on various topics but especially on stuff related to health, technology, and science. Therefore, for Great Lakes Ledger, Vadim will cover health and Sci&Tech news.