Glaciers account for half of rising sea levels
May 29th, 2011 - 3:16 pm ICT by IANSWashington, May 29 (IANS) Glaciers and ice caps make up for a mere three percent of ice on our planet, yet they account for about half of rising sea levels.
A place like Alaska, with a multitude of glaciers and ice spread over 34,000 square miles, does have a global impact, experts say.
“We have used satellites to measure the mass changes of all of Alaska’s glaciers, but there are also many glaciers that need to be measured in the field,” said Anthony Arendt, assistant research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.
Glacial patterns are difficult to predict - even for current computer models. Alaska glaciers often behave independently of one another, says Arendt, who led the study, according to a Fairbanks Institute statement.
“Alaska glaciers have been losing mass more rapidly since the mid-1990s than they were several decades earlier,” added Arendt.
- Global warming causing Himalayan glacier to diminish each year - Jun 09, 2012
- Polar ice melt 'accelerating rapidly, raising sea level' - Mar 09, 2011
- Mass loss from Alaskan glaciers largely overestimated over past 40 years - Mar 03, 2010
- Karakoram glaciers unaffected by global warming - Jul 10, 2012
- Footloose glaciers cracking up - Jul 15, 2010
- Arctic sea ice shrinks to smallest ever - Aug 28, 2012
- Most precise measurement made of changes in the mass of mountain glaciers - Nov 07, 2008
- Low-level aerial surveys aim to understand rapid Antarctic melting - Oct 08, 2009
- Melting glaciers to contribute 12cm to world sea-level increases by 2100 - Jan 11, 2011
- Melting glaciers on Arctic islands play major role in rise of sea level - Apr 21, 2011
- Melting ice in Canadian Arctic bigger player in sea-level rise - Apr 22, 2011
- Greenland ice loss can fill world's 11th largest lake - May 25, 2011
- Melting ice sheets largest contributor to sea level rise - Mar 10, 2011
- How 450mn-yr-old mass extinction is closely linked to climate change - Jan 28, 2011
- Mountain glacier melt-off to raise sea level by 12 cm by 2100 - Jan 11, 2011
Tags: alaska glaciers, arendt, assistant research professor, caps, computer models, current computer, decades, geophysical institute, global impact, mass changes, mid 1990s, multitude, rising sea levels, satellites, university of alaska, university of alaska fairbanks