Global glacier melting rate has doubled in 20 years, 267 billion tons of ice is lost every year | Position report
April 29, 2021 by archyde
The latest research guidelines published in Nature, The global glacier melting rate has nearly doubled in the past 20 years, and the world loses 267 billion tons of ice every year. The rise in sea water level caused by glaciers has surpassed the melting of Greenland or Antarctic ice caps.
Human-driven global warming is the reason for the accelerated loss of glaciers at high altitudes and latitudes, and the melting of glaciers will affect coastal areas around the world.
The team pointed out that between 2000 and 2019, glaciers lost 267 billion tons of ice each year, which is equivalent to 21% of the annual sea level rise. This is 47% and more than double the sea level rise caused by the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, respectively; glacier loss is second only to the cause of sea water level caused by temperature expansion. T
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.
German glaciers may melt away in 10 years, study finds
Germany s five glaciers, all in Bavaria s Alps and melting faster than once forecast, could be doomed within 10 years, experts have said. Melt from glaciers is partially responsible for rising sea levels.
Walks like this on a glacier in the German Alps could be impossible in as little as 10 years
Glaciologist Christoph Mayer said Bavaria s five glaciers combined had already shrunk to just half a square kilometer (124 acres) of ice the equivalent of 36 football fields, and 88% less compared to their status around 1850.
Although small, their fate as climate indicators were of great importance, said Mayer.
A new study shows just how fast glaciers have lost thickness and mass over the past two decades.
Glaciers are a sensitive indicator of climate change and one that can be easily observed. Regardless of altitude or latitude, glaciers have been melting at a high rate since the mid-20th century.
Until now, however, the full extent of ice loss has only been partially measured and understood.
The new study on global glacier retreat in
Nature is the first to include all the world’s glaciers around 220,000 in total excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. The study’s spatial and temporal resolution is unprecedented.
Full article McNabb said the study’s overall picture was one of “fairly rapid” ice mass loss
According to a study published Wednesday by the prestigious scientific journal Nature, glaciers are melting at a faster pace than previously thought, which may have serious consequences.
With the new amounts of water pouring into the sea and increasing its level by 20%, coastal cities may face changes they are not quite prepared to cope with, the study found.
Nearly all of the world’s glaciers are losing mass at an accelerated pace, according to the study, which took into account about 220,000 glaciers worldwide, a major source of sea-level rise.