One of the most tragic climate moments this year was an actual funeral for ice. A ceremony for Okjokull glacier was held back in August in Iceland. The glacier actions were seen by NASA satellites, and from the images, we can see how much it declined between 1986 and 2019 due to global warming.
Grievers remembered the once-big block of ice with a plaque. On the plaque, people can read: “In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you will know if we did it.”
As we learned that glaciers are in real danger, we should also know that there are two main types of ice in the cryosphere. One of them is the ice that resurfaces on land from precipitation. Furthermore, two-thirds of the planet’s freshwater is frozen in these ice sheets, caps, and glaciers.
Scientists Revealed How Much Ice We Have Lost During The Past Decade Due To Global Warming
The last type is the ice that appears from freezing the ocean, dubbed the sea ice. Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, stated: “If you look at just the last decade, 2010 to 2019, eight out of those 10 years are among the lowest 10.”
In a graph released from the Center, we can see the extent of Arctic sea ice for a year. It rises in the winter and decreases in the summer. Recently, however, we can notice that there’s less of the first and more of the latter.
We are currently in the middle of the fastest deterioration of Arctic sea ice in 1,500 years due to global warming. Also, in the past decade, the level of ice melt in Antarctica tripled contrasted to 2007.
As our second lead editor, Anna C. Mackinno provides guidance on the stories Great Lakes Ledger reporters cover. She has been instrumental in making sure the content on the site is clear and accurate for our readers. If you see a particularly clever title, you can likely thank Anna. Anna received a BA and and MA from Fordham University.