The Problems of Glaciers Melting

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Our planet has two glaciers of continental size, one being present on Antarctica and the other on Greenland. Observations made by scientists over the last thirty-five years all agree upon the notion of shrinking, and or retreating of the ice sheets. The melting of ice sheets has powerful implications for the millions of people who depend on glacial melt for drinking water and the millions of people who will be displaced by the sea level rise occurring as a direct result of the melting. The observations of ice melting also show that the rate at which the ice is melting is accelerating. Mountain glaciers around the world are also on the retreat. Some instances of particular mountain glaciers may show expansion, but studies done by glaciologists show that the total mass of glaciers worldwide is decreasing at an accelerating rate. These studies have been done by a number of different methods that all show a trend in the same direction.
The methods by which polar scientists quantify the amount of ice sheet growth or decline took a large leap in the early 1990s when satellite observations began providing spatially comprehensive sets of data. Three separate methods each with particular approaches and limitations have been used to acquire data on ice sheet mass. Satellite altimetry measures ice sheet volume changes from laser and or radar altimeters. This can be converted to changes in mass by accounting for spatially and temporally varying surface density distribution coupled with spatial exploration of unsampled regions. Limitations of this method, similar to other scientific methods lie in the models used. A second method used is referred to as input-minus-output. Through this method scientists calculate the difference between the sn...

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... Earlier research suggested that the ice sheets might grow under climate change due to the increased precipitation from warmer air holding more moisture. As more recent studies suggest, the actual amount of increased precipitation form global warming is countered by the acceleration of ice-flow into the ocean. In all actually stronger snowfall will just increase future ice discharge. Ice-physics simulations have shown that future discharge of ice into the ocean is increased three times due to the additional precipitation. The snow that is piling up due to the increased moisture in the air is exerting pressure on the ice and increasing the rate at which it flows into the ocean. To clarify the notion; more interior snow does not lead to a lack of sea level rise. This has been quantified using several methods that each focused on the grounded portions of the glaciers.

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