NASA confirms Greenland ice cap melting
by Correspondent David George
July 20, 2000
(CNN) -- An ice cap covering much of Greenland is shrinking
rapidly and releasing enough water to raise sea levels, according
to a report released Thursday.
NASA scientists flew over Greenland in 1993 and 1994, and again
in 1998 and 1999, using airborne lasers to measure the thickness
of the ice sheet, which covers nearly 85 percent of the island.
Their research shows it is thinning around the edges at a rate of
about three feet (1 meter) a year.
Ice at the center of Greenland is becoming slightly thicker. But
as it turns out, that progression is the result of weather
changes related to the loss of ice over the remainder of the
island, NASA scientists said.
After Antarctica, Greenland's ice cap contains the second largest
mass of frozen freshwater in the world. The Arctic island has a
net loss of about 50 billion gallons (227 billion liters) of ice
each year, which can cause a measurable rise in sea levels.
In one lifetime, the rise would be nearly 1 centimeter (0.4
inches), if the rate were to remain the same, according to NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center, which coordinated the study
research.
Should that rate increase, or other factors push the level
higher, the result could prove disastrous.
"When you consider a flat beach, an inch in sea level rise covers
a large horizontal distance," said NASA researcher Waleed
Abdalati. "There are instances where there are large storm events
because the water's closer to the land. So it's something to be
studied. It's something to be considered."
The NASA report, published in the July 21 issue of Science, does
not mention global warming. But some scientists note that the
massive patches of ice near the North and South Pole reflect
sunlight back into space, helping regulate the temperature of the
Earth.
SOURCE: CNN
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