Polar & Glacial Ice Melt
 

ICE: ARCTIC & ANTARCTIC WARMING

  • Atmospheric methane in the Arctic has spiked sharply upward, increasing 33% in just 5 years. 35(Paul Palmer, a scientist at Edinburgh University, 2010) Melting permafrost in Siberia is releasing five times the amount of methane than was previously thought.36 (Dr. Katie Walter, 2006)
  • The East Siberian Arctic Shelf’s shallow undersea permafrost is also showing instability and releasing significant amounts of methane.37 (Professor Igor Semiletov, head of the International Siberian Shelf Study (ISSS), University of Alaska at Fairbanks, USA, 2010)
  • The Arctic tundra is already emitting significantly more methane and nitrous oxide than previously estimated. 38(Prof. Greg Henry, University of British Columbia)
  • Some scientists are calling the thawing Arctic a “ticking time bomb.” 39,40,41
  • This year’s summer Arctic sea ice was at its third smallest area on record, with all three most shrunken area events occurring within the past four years.42(US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), 2010 annual report)

  • Current warming makes it unlikely that the Arctic will return to its previous conditions. 43(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Arctic Report Card 2010 Update, USA)
  • In winter 2009-2010, Arctic warming brought severely cold winds and heavy snow to eastern North America and eastern Eurasia. 44,45,46,47(Dr. James Overland of the NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, USA, 2010)
  • Overall warming has extended the annual melting period for Arctic sea ice to 20 days longer now than three decades ago, meaning more heat can be absorbed by the Arctic sea, and big impacts on marine ecosystems and North American climate.48 (NASA 2010)
  • Due to disappearing ice, polar explorers were able for the first time to journey around the North Pole in a small fiberglass sailing boat, a feat that would have been impossible even 10 years ago without an ice-breaker ship because the passages were sealed with ice.49 (Norwegian polar explorer Borge Ousland, voyage started in June 2010)
  • The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of anywhere else on Earth.50
  • The Arctic sea ice cover in 2007 was the lowest ever recorded and the Northwest Passage was navigable for the first time.51 Only 10% now is older and thick ice, while over 90% is newly formed and thin.52 Scientists forecast a completely ice-free summer as soon as 2012 or 2013.53,54
  • Without the protective ice to reflect sunlight, 90% of the sun's heat can enter the open water, thus accelerating global warming.55,56
  • The world’s two major ice sheets, GREENLAND AND ANTARCTICA, are now melting at accelerated rates, whereas before 2000, they were thought to be stable.57
  • Greenland is seeing its worst ice melt and glacial area loss in at least five decades.58 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Arctic Report Card 2010 Update, USA)
  • Glaciers have recently doubled or tripled their movements toward the sea.59 (Ian Joughin, University of Washington , 2010)
  • “Icequakes” caused by breaking icebergs have more than tripled since 1993.60 (Göran Ekström and Meredith Nettles, Columbia University, USA, 2010)
  • The possible, complete loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet would result in a 7-meter sea level rise.61
  • Melt water speeding the Greenland Ice Sheet melt could cause its disintegration over decades rather than centuries, as previously forecast.62 (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Colorado, USA)
  • On August 5, 2010, one-quarter of Greenland’s Petermann Glacier, four times the size of New York’s Manhattan island and the largest in nearly half a century, broke off. "The freshwater stored in this ice island could keep the Delaware or Hudson rivers flowing for more than two years," said Professor Andreas Muenchow of the University of Delaware.63,64,65
  • On the Antarctic Peninsula, 99% methane gas has been seen continuously bubbling up in certain areas of the water’s surface.66 (Argentine geologist Dr. Rodolfo del Valle)
  • A major review published in 2009 found that especially Antarctica’s ice shelves on the Western Peninsula are retreating at an ever-accelerating rate, speeded by warming waters beneath the shelves.67,68,69
  • Over 2008, the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Western Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated. In 2002, the vast 12,000-year-old Larsen B Ice Shelf took only three weeks to disintegrate entirely.70
ICE: GLACIER MELT

  • More than 46,000 glaciers and permafrost expanses are thawing rapidly in “the Third Pole,” the Earth’s 3rd largest store of ice after the Arctic and Antarctic, located on the Tibetan plateau and Himalayas. Known as “Asia’s water tower,” the region’s glacial retreat could affect more than 1.5 billion people across 10 countries. 71(Third Pole Environment program led by Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2010)
  • With Bolivia’s 18,000-year-old Chacaltaya Glacier already gone, other South American Andean glaciers could disappear within a few decades.72,73
  • Kyrgyzstan’s glaciers are receding 3 times as fast as 1950s, or as much as 50 meters per year. 95% of the glaciers could be gone by the end of the century.74 (Institute of Hydro Energy at the National Academy of Sciences in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan)
  • Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro has lost 85% of its glacier cover since 1912 and could be completely gone in 20 years.75 (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2009)
  • The US’ Glacier National Park is set to be glacier-free by 2020, 10 years earlier than previously forecast. 76(US Geological Survey, 2009)

 Reference
Latest News
East Antarctic Ice Sheet more sensitive to climate changes than previously thought. - 27 Feb 2011
Mexican glacier could disappear in just a few years. - 25 Feb 2011
Tibetan Plateau glaciers in dramatic decline. - 21 Feb 2011
Unprecedented ocean warming speeding Arctic melt. - 13 Feb 2011
Antarctica to welcome youngest Asian visitor. -3 Feb 2011
Greenland melting at record pace. - 30 Jan 2011
Extensive glacier melt to continue due to global warming. - 23 Jan 2011
Antarctic melting due to rising heat from deep oceans. - 12 Jan 2011
Record high temperatures threatening Greenland's ice sheets. - 7 Jan 2010
Polar bears dying from climate change-related ice melt. - 29 Dec 2010
Accelerated glacier melt threatens food security. - 28 Dec 2010
Melting Arctic Sea ice causing colder winters. - 7 Dec 2010
Rapidly melting Kyrgyz glaciers imperil biodiversity. - 23 Nov 2010
Water accelerating ice sheet melt. - 11 Nov 2010
Rising temperatures damaging Arctic lake ecosystems. - 10 Nov 2010
Tutti i collegamenti relazionati  
37
British eco-athlete calls for radical shift in approaching climate change - 15 Aug 2010
36
Reducing black carbon could significantly slow polar ice melt - 15 Aug 2010
35
French Alpine glacier at risk of bursting - 12 Aug 2010
34
Greenland glacier loses largest ice since 1962 - 9 Aug 2010
33
Warming Arctic oceans could result in devastating methane release - 30 Jul 2010
32
Glacier loss demonstrated with photo exhibit - 26 Jul 2010
31
Accelerated Greenland melt linked to warming oceans - 21 Jul 2010
30
Current CO2 levels could lead to irreversible Arctic change - 19 Jul 2010
29
Andean glaciers melting at rapid pace - 17 Jul 2010
28
Western Antarctic ice shelf found to be disintegrating - 2 Jul 2010
27
Arctic ice melt worst in recent geologic history - 22 Jan 2010
26
Colder winters in Northern Hemisphere due to warming Arctic - 18 Jun 2010
25
Conference on polar science concludes in Norway - 13 Jun 2010
24
Expedition team reports unusually thin Arctic ice - 3 Jun 2010
23
As ice melt accelerates in Greenland, the land is rising - 29 May 2010
22
Antarctic Peninsula’s Collins Glacier an early indicator of rapid global ice melt - 27 May 2010
21
Continuous evacuation of Pakistanis as glacier-fed lake threatens to burst - 26 May 2010
20
Melting polar cap is behind warming of Arctic - 20 May 2010
19
Warming causes ice cap on Ugandan mountain range to split - 19 May 2010
18
Global warming threatens floods from glacial melts in Bhutan - 17 May 2010
17
Eyjafjallajökull volcano accelerating glacial melt - 12 May 2010
16
Scientists question Antarctic ice sheet stability - 5 May 2010
15
Canada’s Arctic shows accelerated melting - 27 Apr 2010
14
Glacier National Park loses two more named glaciers - 14 Apr 2010
13
Accelerated glacial melt causing water sources to dwindle - 9 Apr 2010
12
Accelerating Greenland ice melt observed - 2 Apr 2010
11
Loss of Arctic ice could cost trillions - 23 Mar 2010
10
Antarctic Peninsula ice sheets melting at worrying rate - 14 Mar 2010
9
Dislodged Antarctic iceberg causes scientists concern - 5 Mar 2010
8
Permafrost receding northward - 26 Feb 2010
First  1  2  3  Last
 
PLANET EARTH: OUR LOVING HOME Dr. Rebecca Lee: Observations from Hong Kong’s Famed Explorer on Climate Change - P1/2 (In Cantonese)
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PLANET EARTH: OUR LOVING HOME A Closer Look at the Melting of the Antarctic with Dr. Ted Scambos - P1/2
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The Himalayan Glaciers Are Disappearing
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PLANET EARTH:OUR LOVING HOME The Antarctic Melt: Interview with Professor Peter Barrett
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PIANTETA TERRA: LA NOSTRA DOLCE DIMORE Il Ghiaccio dell'Artico si scioglie drammaticamente: Intervista con il Dott. Greg Flato - 1a parte
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PIANETA TERRA: LA NOSTRA DOLCE DIMORA Il ruolo fondamentale della banchisa polare artica: un'intervista con i dottori Ted Scambos & Mark Serreze - prima parte
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Glaciologist warns of drastic ice melt. - 11 Apr 2010
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