Greenland Ice Loss Breaks Records - CC
532 Gigatons of Ice Lost in 2019
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Source: Polar Bear in Arctic Meltdown |
New Study: Worsening Climate Change, Melt Tops Forecasts
The signs are undeniable that Climate Change is accelerating and breaking scientific estimates. A new study has documented that the Greenland ice sheet lost a record amount of mass in 2019. The loss is so dramatic that scientists are expected to start restating and redefining their worst case scenarios based on the new Greenland findings. The worst case scenarios are for rising ocean waters and flooding affecting millions of people in coastal locations.
New Melt Shatters Records
The rate of the Greenland ice sheet melt, caught by satellites and analyzed by scientists through derived data, is record shattering. Geoscientist and glaciologist Ingo Sasgen of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany documented the loss of 532 gigatons of ice, or 66 tons of ice for every person on Earth - in 2019 just in the Greenland ice sheet. Greenland experienced much warmer temperatures in 2019. The 2019 melt in Greenland is 15% more than the previous record set in 2012.
Melt at 66 Tons of Ice for Every Person on Earth in 2019
Clearly, Greenland's ice sheet is melting more quickly than expected. Experts say a total melt of the Greenland ice sheet would raise sea levels by at least 20 feet. Sasgen believes we are on a path of accelerating sea levels. If the 2019 rate of melt in Greenland persists at the level of 66 tons of ice for every person on Earth, year after year, coastal flooding will affect up to 30 million more people each year by the end of this century.
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