The warm atmosphere is taking its surface over the Greenland and Antarctica glaciers, melting above and below the surface. As they melt, sea levels rise.
When an ice cube comes in contact with a heat source such as hot water or air, it melts. Therefore, it is not surprising that the temperature atmosphere is the reason for the melting of our glaciers and ice sheets. However, predicting how much glaciers and ice sheets will melt and how quickly – the main components of the sea surface – rise is almost not so straightforward.
Greenland and Antarctica are home to much of the world’s ice age ice – including just two ice sheets – making them areas of special interest to scientists. Combined, the two regions also have enough ice, which if melted at the same time would raise the sea level by about 215 feet (65 meters) – a study and understanding of which makes it not only interesting, but crucial for those close to us. Term adaptability and our long-term survival in a changing world. Credit: NASA
Glaciers and ice sheets are much more complex than ice cubes. For many years ice accumulates and forms when new ice is compressed into ice. As they get older, they begin to move slowly under the pressure of their own weight, pulling small rocks and debris across the ground with them. The icy snow that extends to cover large landmasses, as it does in Antarctica and Greenland, is considered a sheet of ice.
The processes that cause glaciers and ice sheets to lose mass are even more complicated. When the intimate surface of a window is exposed to air, it melts. And while warm air certainly melts the surface of glaciers and ice sheets, it is also significantly affected by other factors around sea water, the terrain (both land and sea) on which they move, and also other factors, including their own melted water. . .
Greenland and Antarctica are home to the world’s most icy ice, consisting of only two sheets of ice. These thick slabs of ice – about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) and 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) thick, respectively – contain most of the fresh water stored on Earth, which makes them of particular interest to scientists. Combined, the two regions also have enough ice, which if melted at the same time would raise the sea level by about 215 feet (65 meters) – a study and understanding of which makes it not only interesting, but crucial for those close to us. Term adaptability and our long-term survival in a changing world.
Ice damage in Greenland
Glaciers are considered in equilibrium when the amount of ice that comes to its surface and accumulates (accumulation zone) is equal to the amount of ice lost through melting, evaporation, butterflies and other processes.
But with annual air temperatures in the Arctic rising faster than anywhere else in the world, that balance can no longer be achieved in Greenland. The warm sea water around the island’s tidal water glaciers is also problematic.
“It’s basically like pointing a hairdryer at an ice cube while an ice cube is also sitting in a hot pot of water,” said Josh Willis, chief researcher at NASA’s Ocean Melting Greenland (OMG), a project investigating the effects of the ocean. Water temperature on melting ice in the region. “Glaciers are melting from the heat simultaneously from above and below.”
Although hot air and warm water contribute to individual dissolution, the interaction between the melted water of glaciers and warm ocean water also plays a significant role.
When the hot summer air melts the surface of the glacier, melted ice pushes the pores down. It makes its way between the ice and glacier beds until it reaches the bottom of the glacier and finally exits the bed at the glacier base and into the surrounding ocean. Meltwater plums are lighter than the surrounding sea water because they do not contain salt. So as it rises towards the surface, mix the high sea water upwards in the process. The hot water is then rubbed against the bottom of the glacier, causing more of the glacier to melt. This mostly leads to ducks – the ice breaks and breaks into large ice segments (icebergs) – at the front end or at the glacier terminus. Credit: NASA
When the hot summer air melts the surface of the glacier, melted ice pushes the pores down. It makes its way between the ice and the glacier bed until it reaches the bottom of the glacier and finally exits the bed at the glacier base and into the surrounding ocean.
Meltwater plums are lighter than the surrounding sea water because they do not contain salt. So as it rises towards the surface, mix the high sea water upwards in the process. The hot water is then rubbed against the bottom of the glacier, causing more of the glacier to melt. This mostly leads to ducks – the ice breaks and breaks into large icebergs – at the front end or at the glacier terminus.
The complex shape of the sea floor around Greenland influences that this warm water can melt. It provides barriers in some areas – preventing the deep, warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean from reaching the glacier front. However, the underwater terrain includes other features, such as deep valleys, just like the subterranean underwater. The valley is cut into continents, allowing the waters of the Atlantic to enter. Glaciers sitting in these waters will melt faster than water where hot water is blocked by underwater gases or seals.
Ice damage in Antarctica
In Antarctica, where similar surface and sea melting processes occur, the topography and bedrock on which the ice sheet rests significantly affect the stability of the ice sheet and its contribution to sea level rise.
Researchers divide Antarctica into two regions based on the relationship between the window and the bedrock below it. East Antarctica, an area east of the Transantarctic Mountains, is very high in elevation and has the most snow on Earth. The bedrock beneath the ice sheet is also largely above sea level. These features help keep the east direction relatively stable. West Antarctica, on the other hand, is low in elevation and most ice sheets are thin. Unlike the east, the ice sheet in West Antarctica sits on a bedrock below sea level.
“In West Antarctica, we have these glaciers resting on underwater bedrock. Like Greenland, there is a layer of warm ocean water below the surface of the cold surface. So this warm water can flow on the shelf of continents, and then all the way down the ice shelf. – Floating ice that extends from glaciers and ice sheets, “said Helen Serosi, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Water melts ice shelves from below which can make them thin and broken.”
The visualization shows how ocean currents flow around and below the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica. As the water goes down the ice shelf, it causes the ice shelf to thin by squeezing it from the bottom. The visualization was based on the “Ocean Estimation” (ECICO) V3 ocean rotation model, 100 m “Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica” (REMA) surface height and 450 m bed topography and ice thickness made from Bedmachin Antarctica. V1 datasets. The surface is mapped with scenes from NASA’s Landset 8 satellite. The exaggerated factors of 4 and 15 – above and below sea level, respectively – are used for clarity. Credit: NASA / Cindy Starr
This is important because ice shelves act like curbs. They slow down its approach to the ocean, catching the ice flowing from the rear current where it raises the sea level. When ice shelves are calfed, the creek must be removed, allowing more inland ice to flow freely into the ocean. Moreover, this leads to a retreat to the grounding zone – the area where the ice separates from the bedrock and begins to swim.
Kelly Brunt, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and ICESAT-2 at the University of Maryland, said the grounding zone indicates floating ice, which is already counted in the budget from groundwater to sea level, which is not counted in the budget. “Floating ice is like a solid of ice floating in a glass. It does not overflow when the glass melts. But when floating ice is added to the ocean, it is like adding more ice cubes to the glass, causing the water level to rise. . “
The bedrock in West Antarctica is also verse-shaped – meaning it is higher than the edge and gradually becomes more inland. Therefore, each time the grounding zone goes back inwards, the ger ice comes in front of the ocean water and the glacier or ice sheet is filled with deep water. Even more ice can flow into the ocean from above.
“It’s relevant in West Antarctica because as we push back the grounding zone, down, the reverse verse means there’s really no backstop, nothing to disrupt this cycle of melting and retreat,” Brunt said. “Our map of Bedrock below the ice sheets is not as extensive as in Greenland, so Antarctica is much less accessible. So, we don’t know if there really are any bumps or peaks. It will help slow down the solitude.”
West Antarctic glaciers such as Thaits and Pine Islands are retreating even faster. This is problematic as they enter the Amunden Sea from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to the Bund and provide a major route for raising sea levels.
Overall, melting and ice losses at both poles have been rapid over the last few years. The more we learn about the processes and interactions from which it arises, some of which are discussed here, the better we will be able to accurately and precisely predict future sea level surges.
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Written by NASA Earth Science News Team, Esprit Smith
2020-209
