28 Trillion Tonnes of Ice Have Disappeared from the Earth Since 1994, Finds Study
Global warming is one of the biggest problems the world is grappling with. It has led to a rise in sea levels and is considered a reason behind disasters like hurricanes and cyclones. Scientists have recently revealed that due to global warming, the Earth has lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice since 1994.
A study conducted by the scientists based at Leeds and Edinburgh universities and University College London has divulged that sea levels could reach as much as a metre by the end of the century because of melting glaciers and ice sheets.
Published in the journal Cryosphere Discussions, the research has drawn attention towards the fact that the melting of ice in “staggering” quantities is reducing the Earth’s ability to reflect solar radiation back into space.
Professor Andy Shepherd, director of Leeds University’s Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, highlighted the harmful effects of global warming on humans.
“To put that in context, every centimetre of sea-level rise means about a million people will be displaced from their low-lying homelands,” The Guardian reported quoting him.
The scientists have informed that the devastating effects of global warming have been experienced globally and all the regions have witnessed reductions in ice cover in the past three decades. They added that these losses are still continuing.
“To put the losses we’ve already experienced into context, 28 trillion tonnes of ice would cover the entire surface of the UK with a sheet of frozen water that is 100 metres thick,” Tom Slater from Leeds University.
The researchers asserted that not all the lost ice would have contributed to sea level rises. In an attempt to drive their point home, they said 54 per cent ice disappeared from sea ice and from ice shelves and as these float on the water their melting would not have led to sea-level rise.
They stated that the remaining 46 per cent of meltwater came from glaciers and ice sheets on the ground and they would have played a significant role in sea-level rise.
Ref: https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/28-trillion-tonnes-of-ice-have-disappeared-from-the-earth-since-1994-finds-study-2815085.html