Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that coastal glaciers in Antarctica are melting at a faster rate than previously thought. When the ice from these glaciers leaves the land and moves into the ocean, they serve as the primary driver of sea level rise around the world, reports Forbes.
Increasing sea level
Over the past 25 years, the net loss of Antarctic ice has been an area about the size of Switzerland.
Things aren’t looking much better on the top of the world. A new study published Thursday found that the Arctic has warmed nearly four times as quickly as the rest of the planet since 1979. That’s a finding that doubles previous estimates, with researchers noting that the region is “more sensitive to global warming than previously thought.”
Those warmer temperatures lead to a number of knock-on effects, including making water levels hard to predict and melting permafrost on land areas.
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Source: Forbes
