Seth Borenstein
Glaciers are melting faster, losing 31% more snow and ice per year than they did 15 years earlier, according to three-dimensional satellite measurements of all the world’s mountain glaciers.
Scientists blame human-caused climate change.
Using 20 years of recently declassified satellite data, scientists calculated that the world’s 220,000 mountain glaciers are losing more than 328 billion tons (298 billion metric tons) of ice and snow per year since 2015, according to a study in Wednesday’s journal Nature. That’s enough melt flowing into the world’s rising oceans to put Switzerland under almost 24 feet (7.2 meters) of water each year.
The annual melt rate from 2015 to 2019 is 78 billion more tons (71 billion metric tons) a year than it was from 2000 to 2004. Global thinning rates, different than volume of water lost, doubled in the last 20 years and “that’s enormous,” said Romain Hugonnet, a glaciologist at ETH Zurich and the University of Toulouse
Associated Press
According to a study released Wednesday in the journal Nature, the world s 220,000 glaciers are melting faster now than in the 2000s. The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska, has lost 2.8 billion tons of snow and ice since 2000. Previous Next
Thursday, April 29, 2021 1:00 am
Satellites find glacial melting acceleration
SETH BORENSTEIN | Associated Press
Glaciers are melting faster, losing 31% more snow and ice per year than they did 15 years earlier, according to three-dimensional satellite measurements of all the world s mountain glaciers.
Scientists blame human-caused climate change.
Using 20 years of recently declassified satellite data, scientists calculated that the world s 220,000 mountain glaciers are losing more than 328 billion tons of ice and snow per year since 2015, according to a study in Wednesday s journal Nature.
April 29, 2021 10:26 am
BY SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
Glaciers are melting faster, losing 31% more snow and ice per year than they did 15 years earlier, according to three-dimensional satellite measurements of all the world’s mountain glaciers.
Scientists blame human-caused climate change.
Using 20 years of recently declassified satellite data, scientists calculated that the world’s 220,000 mountain glaciers are losing more than 328 billion tons (298 billion metric tons) of ice and snow per year since 2015, according to a study in Wednesday’s journal Nature. That’s enough melt flowing into the world’s rising oceans to put Switzerland under almost 24 feet (7.2 meters) of water each year.
Glaciers seen melting faster than ever
The Klinaklini glacier in British Columbia, Canada, shown in September 2017, has lost nearly 16 billion tons of snow and ice since 2000, with 10.7 billion tons of that since 2010. Brian Menounos VIA AP/FILE
FILE - This May 9, 2020 file photo shows the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. Since 2000, the glacier has lost 2.8 billion tons (2.5 billion metric tons) of snow and ice, with more than 1.7 billion tons (1.6 billion metric tons) since 2010. According to a study released on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 in the journal Nature, the world s 220,000 glaciers are melting faster now than in the 2000s. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Becky Bohrer
Losing Mountain Glaciers
(Photo : Photo by Marvin Olson from Pixabay)
According to a report published in the journal Nature, scientists estimated that the world s 220,000 mountain glaciers have been losing more than 328 billion tons (298 billion metric tons) of ice and snow each year since 2015. Every year, enough melt flows into the world s growing waters to submerge Switzerland by nearly 24 feet (7.2 meters).
From 2015 to 2019, the annual melt rate was 78 billion tons (71 billion metric tons) higher than it was from 2000 to 2004. Global thinning rates, which are separate from the amount of water lost, have doubled in the last 20 years, according to Romain Hugonnet, a glaciologist at ETH Zurich and the University of Toulouse in France, who led the research.