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HomeGlobal NewsMelting ice has raised global sea levels by 2.2mm in two months

Melting ice has raised global sea levels by 2.2mm in two months

Greenland’s melting ice has causes a dramatic rise in global sea levels, following last year’s hot summer

Summer of last year, was so warm that it triggered the melting of 600billion tons of ice around Greenland, which was so impactful that it raised global sea levels by 2.2mm in just two months, according to new research.

Of course, when winter set in, some of that mass would have been recovered as it snowed across the ice sheet.

The data comes from the joint US-German space mission known as Grace-FO.

Data is analysed from a pair of satellites that circle the globe, sensing the inconsistencies in the gravity field of Earth that correspond to variations in mass.

An illustration of the twin Grace satellites

Key signals being detected are changes in the amount of water stored on land surfaces and the withering state of the planet’s great ice fields.

The data from the satellites has revealed this dramatic loss of ice, after just a few months of abnormally high temperatures around the north pole.

Last year was the hottest year ever recorded for the Arctic, with the highest temperatures reaching 18.3C, with the annual minimum extent of sea ice in the region its second-lowest on record.

Isabella Velicogna, a professor of Earth system science at University of California Irvine has said:

“We knew this past summer had been particularly warm in Greenland, melting every corner of the ice sheet, but the numbers are enormous,”

“In Antarctica, the mass loss in the west proceeds unabated, which is very bad news for sea level rise,” Velicogna said

This new research has backed up everything scientists have been saying about the catastrophic dangers caused by runaway global heating. And despite the world’s attention being focused on the current COVID-19 Pandemic.

Important climate discussions are due to go ahead later this year in Glasgow, although the recent wave of cancellations triggered by the current health crisis has threatened to undermine these efforts.

Eve Cooper
Eve Cooper
I've been writing articles and stories for as long as I can remember and in the past few years I've had the fortune of turning that love & passion for writing into my job :)

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