Science-Technology
See other Science-Technology Articles
Title: Nasa Warns 97 Percent Of Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melted In Four Days
Source:
GUARDIAN UK
URL Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/ ... t-surface-melted-in-four-days/
Published: Jul 26, 2012
Author: Suzanne Goldenberg
Post Date: 2012-07-26 12:28:37 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 2227
Comments: 5
The Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate this month than at any other time in recorded history, with virtually the entire ice sheet showing signs of thaw. The rapid melting over just four days was captured by three satellites. It has stunned and alarmed scientists, and deepened fears about the pace and future consequences of climate change. In a statement posted on Nasa’s website on Tuesday, scientists admitted the satellite data was so striking they thought at first there had to be a mistake. “This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?” Son Nghiem of Nasa’s jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena said in the release. He consulted with several colleagues, who confirmed his findings. Dorothy Hall, who studies the surface temperature of Greenland at Nasa’s space flight centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, confirmed that the area experienced unusually high temperatures in mid-July, and that there was widespread melting over the surface of the ice sheet. Climatologists Thomas Mote, at the University of Georgia, and Marco Tedesco, of the City University of New York, also confirmed the melt recorded by the satellites. However, scientists were still coming to grips with the shocking images on Tuesday. “I think it’s fair to say that this is unprecedented,” Jay Zwally, a glaciologist at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told the Guardian. The set of images released by Nasa on Tuesday show a rapid thaw between 8 July and 12 July. Within that four-day period, measurements from three satellites showed a swift expansion of the area of melting ice, from about 40% of the ice sheet surface to 97%. Zwally, who has made almost yearly trips to the Greenland ice sheet for more than three decades, said he had never seen such a rapid melt. About half of Greenland’s surface ice sheet melts during a typical summer, but Zwally said he and other scientists had been recording an acceleration of that melting process over the last few decades. This year his team had to rebuild their camp, at Swiss Station, when the snow and ice supports melted. He said he was most surprised to see indications in the images of melting even around the area of Summit Station, which is about two miles above sea level. It was the second unusual event in Greenland in a matter of days, after an iceberg the size of Manhattan broke off from the Petermann Glacier. But the rapid melt was viewed as more serious. “If you look at the 8 July image that might be the maximum extent of warming you would see in the summer,” Zwally noted. “There have been periods when melting might have occurred at higher elevations briefly – maybe for a day or so – but to have it cover the whole of Greenland like this is unknown, certainly in the time of satellite records.”Lora Koenig, another Goddard glaciologist, told Nasa similar rapid melting occurs about every 150 years. But she warned there were wide-ranging potential implications from this year’s thaw. “If we continue to observe melting events like this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome.” she told Nasa. The most immediate consequences are sea level rise and a further warming of the Arctic. In the centre of Greenland, the ice remains up to 3,000 metres deep. On the edges, however, the ice is much, much thinner and has been melting into the sea. The melting ice sheet is a significant factor in sea level rise. Scientists attribute about one-fifth of the annual sea level rise, which is about 3mm every year, to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. In this instance of this month’s extreme melting, Mote said there was evidence of a heat dome over Greenland: or an unusually strong ridge of warm air. The dome is believed to have moved over Greenland on 8 July, lingering until 16 July.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
The axis of the earth cycle ... sun spots too --- cause ice age - global warming swings ! Something paltry man ... w / o God --- can do very little about !
If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys !
Since your "recorded history" only goes back a few decades, this really doesn't mean anything. And having "signs of thaw" is vastly different than the headline. In other words, much ado about nothing. In other words, more leftists propaganda. REALLY, you'll have to do much better... You're starting to look rather silly with such drivel that you attempt to pass off as "news." Thanks for the laugh.
"Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all." Michael Rivero
What a retarded response, retard.
Kindly STFU, alzheimer-Fred.
"Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all." Michael Rivero
The SURFACE of the ice sheet melted slightly, so what!!! Especially since all of the ice sheets of the world have been GROWING during this "SUPPOSED" period of MGW we have been experiencing!! And this is supposed to be alarming how??? (OOhhh that's right if the SURFACE of the Greenland ice sheet melts it will prove the hoax of MGW is real, and we all will drown sometime next week...... LOL.....) The Greenland Ice Sheet has an area of 708,072 square miles (1,833,900 sq km) and an average thickness of 1.43 miles (2.3 km). (And it keeps right on growing by about 4.5 to 5 CM per year).... Are you sure your alter ego isn't Skip Intro....
Choosing and voting for a presidential candidate is like picking which STD you want to suffer from….
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
The Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate this month than at any other time in recorded history, with virtually the entire ice sheet showing signs of thaw.
#3. To: Capitalist Eric (#2)
Since your "recorded history" only goes back a few decades, this really doesn't mean anything.
#4. To: Fred Mertz (#3)
#5. To: Brian S (#0)
Nasa Warns 97 Percent Of Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melted In Four Days
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]