In an article published on Washington Post, it stated that the Greenland glacier is melting fast and this could result to a huge increase in the sea level, which is a scary thing. Large parts of wetland and plains could vanish forever if the the sea level continues to rise.
Greenland is composed of the West Antarctic and Alaskan ice sheets and this is a reservoir for about 25 percent of the earth's fresh water. If any of these ice sheets crumbles down, the impact would be very extreme. And if one totally melts, there is no way to replace it for next thousands of years.
Moreover, if they break up into small pieces, a rise of 20 meters on the current sea level is to be expected, possibly just within the period of ten years. This would flood cities and most of the agricultural lands.
This resulting effect from the melting of the glacier would affect humans in a very bad way, so, for years, this issue has been one of the biggest concerns.
Since 2003, the collapse of the thick ice in the north pole appears to have sped up, intensifying fears that the zone may have already passed the tipping point. Just as the weather becomes warmer and causes ice to melt, it can hike up temperatures even more because almost all the sun's radiation are being sucked in by the dark water. Global warming would become unmanageable if this happens.
In the latest review, scientist saw that two glaciers in the northeastern part of Greenland which is the Zachariae Isstrom and Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden have shown a drastic change — one of the glacier is retreating at an alarming speed. The change will definitely increase sea level in the coming years.
The Zachariae has been solid for years, but it started to change when a big chunk of ice fell into bits in 2003, since then the melting did not stop and now, what was left is just 5 percent of its actual size before it crumbled.
As reported by USA Today, researchers and scientists from the University of California Irvine revealed their latest findings on the ice melt in Greenland.
"Even if we have some really cool years ahead, we think the glacier is now unstable. And now this has started, it will continue until it retreats to a ridge about 30km back which could stabilize it and perhaps slow that retreat down." said Jeremie Mouginot at the University of California, Irvine.
In addition, Eric Rignot, professor of Earth System Science in UC-Irvine said, "The top of the glacier is melting away as a result of decades of steadily increasing air temperatures, while its underside is compromised by currents carrying warmer ocean water, and the glacier is now breaking away into bits and pieces and retreating into deeper ground."
Meanwhile, in the American Indian Magazine report, it was mentioned that back in 1983 the five major glaciers in Columbia were supposed to last for 300 years, but after the recent measurement, it was reduced to 25 years.
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