Just Released! Order “Waking Up to Climate Change” by George Ropes, and receive 25% Discount. Learn More

HOME          CATEGORIES          OUR TAKE

Ice caps not shrinking as much as once thought, new data show

How fast glaciers and ice caps are melting has long been a contentious issue.  Previous estimates were based on extrapolations of on-site measurements and aircraft sampling of a relatively few of the earth’s 200,000 glaciers and ice caps.  Now, new data from NASA’s GRACE satellites indicate that mountain glaciers and ice caps lost 148 billion tons of ice a year, 30% less than previous estimates.  There are two satellites, 135 miles apart, which orbit the earth 16 times a day.  As they encounter changes in earth’s mass, they detect changes in earth’s gravity, which causes first one and then the other to change speed and alter the distance between them.  The satellites can determine that distance with great precision, which enables the team of NASA scientists to calculate the mass of each feature detected by the satellites.  Over seven years, the team has tracked monthly changes in ice mass over all the continents.  It has established wide regional differences, with Alaska, the Canadian Artic, Iceland, and Patagonia showing the biggest losses of mass.  In a surprise, the loss rates from the Himalyas, Tien Shan and Pamir ranges in Asia were only 10% of previous estimates, because the losses previously attributed to glaciers actually came from agriculture and industrial activity.  The new data make no predictions, but could help to validate climate models of glacier activity.  The current GRACE satellites have exceeded their 5-year life span; however, they are not scheduled to be replaced until 2016.

GR

Comment on this article

ClimateYou moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (New York time) and can only accept comments written in English.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SHARE THIS ARTICLE


More Posts Like This

CITY TECH BLOG

The Dominican Republic Takes Part in the Paris Climate Change Agreement

The Dominican Republic, located in the Caribbean, is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to its geographic location and heavy dependence on agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. The country is also prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods, which are becoming more frequent and

CITY TECH BLOG

The Effects of Climate Change on Disease & Property Damage

Climate change is affecting people all over the world. I live in the United States of America and today, I’ll let you know how climate change is affecting us. One of the ways climate change is affecting us is the warmer temperatures. Rising temperatures increase the frequency, intensity,

CITY TECH BLOG

Rescue Our Community, Rescue Our Planet

Our water cycle, which refers to how water circulates on our globe, is being impacted by climate change. Dry areas are becoming drier while wet areas are becoming more wet. However, the amount of rain we receive now tends to come in more heavy downpours, increasing the risk