Greenland’s glaciers are dumping ice into the ocean twice as fast as they did 10 years ago, most likely because of global warming, researchers said Thursday. Melting glaciers raise the level of the world’s oceans, and the finding raises fears about the impact of climate change on coastal areas.
Glacier expert Eric Rignot of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory presented the satellite survey results at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in St. Louis.
The study appears in the journal Science. The researchers catalogued changes in 28 major glaciers, based on satellite images and radar data. The slow-moving glaciers are the main route for ice to move from the region’s frozen interior to the sea.
The researchers found that in 2005, the glaciers discharged more than twice as much ice as they did in 1996 enough fresh water to supply Los Angeles for 220 years. The sea level along US coasts is expected to rise at least 2 feet by 2100, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
