Important Innovations

  1.2 Trillion Tons of Ice Melting Yearly                                                                 Source:  Greenland Ice Mel Two Important New Climate Change Studies Two comprehensive, new studies by NASA and European scientists demonstrate that Climate Change is getting worse.  A team of scientists from the University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh and University College of London have discovered that the Earth is losing 1.2 trillion tons of ice every year.  That is causing climatologists to recalibrate rising sea levels.  They say that the rising water levels are much worse than anticipated.   The ice melt numbers are staggering.  The melt has escalated from 760 billion tons per year in the 1990's to 1.2 trillion tons per year during the 2010's....

  European Union's Latest Findings on Climate Change Source:  Climate Change Stock Images Temperatures & Severe Weather Rising   The European Union's Copernicus Earth observation service says that global temperatures in 2019 were the highest on record and tied  2016 for that dubious distinction.  Also, 2010 - 2019 was the hottest decade ever. And, the pattern continues to escalate.  Europe, the Arctic and southern Siberia experienced their hottest year ever in 2020.  All experienced extreme heatwaves and fires.  In the US, the rising temperatures in 2020 caused 22 distinct disasters, including wildfires and hurricanes, resulting in $95 billion in damage. Greenhouse Gas Emissions The scientists at Copernicu s  are calling for immediate action on greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the amount going into the atmosphere.  The UN sponsored global summit on Climate Change won't happen until November in Glasgow. So the Paris Accords stand in...

  532 Gigatons of Ice Lost in 2019 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 Green...

Europe's Record Smashing Heat Threatens Greenland Ice Sheet Source:  NASA - Greenland Ice Sheet World's Second Largest Ice Sheet Melting Europe has been sweltering under a heat wave that has smashed temperature records.  The heat wave is now travelling toward Greenland.  The United Nations is warning that the world's second largest ice sheet is in the cross-hairs of extremely hot air and threatened. Smashing Ice The UN is warning that the hot air headed to Greenland is "absolutely incredible".  It's been moving up from North Africa this summer to Europe.  Temperatures in parts of Europe have hit record highs and surpassed them by 2, 3, 4 degrees Celsius, which is incredible.  That mass of hot air is now travelling northward to Greenland. Global Climate System The US is warning of high temperatures in Greenland and increased melting of the ice sheet.  They think it could result in record low ice levels, at or below levels set in 2012....

Preventing West Antarctic Ice Shelf Meltdown Source:  West Antarctic Ice Sheet Novel Approach - Tons of Artificial Snow and Thousands of Wind Turbines A team of international scientists just released a study and a series of recommendations to prevent what would be a disastrous meltdown of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.  They recommend using 12,000 wind turbines to pump seawater up to the surface, convert it into artificial snow and let trillions of tons of the snow fall onto the surface of the ice sheet.  For a news blog with details on this novel approach, go to Important Innovations Collection: Preventing Antarctic Ice Shelf Meltdown : Dumping Trillions of Tons of Artificial Snow on the South Pole Ice Shelf Source:  West Antarctic Ice Shelf New Scientific Study &...

Himalayan Glaciers Melting Twice as Fast as Expected Source:  Himalayan Glaciers Stock Image New Research Study from Columbia University Columbia University scientists have analyzed imagery from Cold War era spy satellites and compared it to glacier ice melt rates in the Himalayas since 2000.  Their findings are sobering.  The ice melt has doubled in speed since 2000 when compared to the melt between 1975 and 2000.  The glaciers are melting 1% or by 8 billion + tons every year.  For a news blog with more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Himalayan Glaciers Melting Rapidly : New Columbia University Study:  Twice As Fast As Expected Source:  Himalayan Glaciers stock image Revelation from Spy Satellite Image...

Big Ice Loss in Asian High Mountain Glaciers Source:  Stock photo of Siachen Glacier, Pakistan NASA-lead International Study High mountain glaciers in Asia are flowing much more slowly because of the widespread ice loss.  This is affecting the availability of freshwater downstream in China, Pakistan and India. University scientists from France, Scotland and California Institute of Technology joined NASA in this climate change study. Millions of Satellite Images Documenting Ice Loss The scientists analyzed more than 2 million images of the Asian glaciers taken by satellite from 1985 through 2017.  They found that 94% of the slowing water flow rates from the glaciers is caused by reductions in the thickness of the ice.  What they found surprising is the consistent relationship between the thinning glacier ice and the reduction in the water flow rate going downstream. Dramatic Satellite Evidence For more than 2 decades the scientists have been tracking by...

NASA Satellite Will Track Global Ice Melt Photo:  Courtesy of NASA ICESat-2 Global Ice Melt Tracker NASA launched its ICESat-2 satellite into space. The satellite contains NASA's most high powered laser.  It will provide unprecedented, highly valuable observations on how glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice are changing.  It will precisely measure the thickness of Earth's polar ice sheets, snow cover and permafrost. Bonus on Board A surprise bonus is also on board.  2 ELFIN CubeSats.  They're a pair of tiny satellites that will study how energetic electrons make their way from space to the earth's atmosphere. Measuring Ice and Melt ICESat-2's laser splits into 6 beams to precisely measure the Earth's polar ice formations.  The calculations are done by the amount of time it takes the laser beam to leave the satellite, hit and bounce off the ice and arrive back at the satellite. Massive Data & Important Climate Change Insights from this Missi...

Satellite with Most Advanced Laser Altimeter to Track Global Ice Melt ICESAT-2 In mid-September, NASA will launch ICESAT-2.  It's a $1 billion satellite loaded with the most advanced laser system NASA has ever launched into space.  The purpose is to track and precisely document how the earth's ice sheets, sea ice and glaciers are melting.  NASA officials think more than 2/3rds of the earth's ice has melted since the 1980's. Ice Mission ICESAT-2 is going to provide an unprecedented level of detail and precision on how ice sheets' heights and thickness are changing. It's a 3 year mission and the highly advanced laser onboard adds the 3rd dimension to the measuring.  The system is so precise it can document increases and decreases in ice thickness as small as 1/5 of an inch. "Revolutionary" Technology NASA says this instrument is "revolutionary" to study both land and sea ice.  The laser beam splits into 6 beams and fires 10,00...