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Due to global warming and climate change, the ice sheets at the poles are melting more each year. The images that most clearly revealed this situation come from satellites. The situation in Antarctica is not moving.
NASA satellites have been watching the collapse in Antarctica and Greenland for a long time. Changes in glaciers in these two regions in the last 16 years have been followed. The images and incoming data also contain information on the forms that we must follow.
When we examine the observations made and examine the examined data, we find surprising and terrifying facts. In both regions, billions of tons of ice melt in the oceans and raise sea levels.
The seas are rising
Studies conducted between 2003 and 2016 revealed that the world’s sea level rose a little more than three centimeters in this period. Although the accumulation of ice increases in eastern Antarctica, it is not enough to cover the terrible loss of the ice sheet in western Antarctica. The fusion in these layers caused a third of the rise in sea level.
The source of the findings were NASA’s ICESat and ICESAT-2 satellites. Satellites with laser measurement equipment aim to provide a better understanding of global warming and climate change by measuring the height and thickness of glaciers.
Melting glaciers will continue
According to the researchers, the melting of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica will continue for many years. When we look at the annual amounts of melting, we see that Greenland lost 200 gigatons and that Antarctica lost 118 gigatons. Let us remind you that one gigaton corresponds to one billion tons.
In saying this, these numbers may seem too hypothetical. In terms of revealing the gravity of the situation, we can make a comparison as follows: if all this ice could be poured as snow, all of Istanbul would be covered in snow. With a snow level of more than 60 meters.
Glaciers in the water do not raise the existing sea level because they are already immersed in the water. The breaking of glaciers on land and the descent is a big problem.
According to the researchers, the crisis in Antarctica has a “competitive” structure. Although the ice mass increases in East Antarctica, ice loss is experienced in West Antarctica. Unfortunately, the amount of glaciers gained by the frozen continent is not enough to cover what it lost.