I guess you’d have to be living under a rock not to know the planet is in trouble. One of the most talked-about issues is ice melting in the furthest most points to the north and south. While many poo poo studies about ice sheets melting, scientists unfortunately are confirming their worst fears. In fact in Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets seem to be intent on meeting the worst-case scenarios projected by scientists. (1)

Ice Melting Rises Sea Levels

The global sea level has risen by 1.8 cm in the past two decades due to the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. If global warming continues, sea levels are at risk of rising as much as 17 cm. This would put those living in areas where coastal flooding occurs at risk. According to British and Danish researchers, this is about 16 million people. (1)

Since monitoring of the ice sheets first began back in 1990, (yes, we’ve known about this for over 30-years) the world’s oceans’ levels have risen by 10.6 mm. And that’s just from Greenland. The Antarctic ice adds another 7.2 mm. This equals 4 mm each year according to a study by scientists at the University of Leeds and the Danish Meteorological Institute. (1)

Ice Melting Accelerating

“Although we anticipated the ice sheets would lose increasing amounts of ice in response to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere, the rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined,” says lead author, Tom Slater, University of Leeds climate researcher at the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling. “The melting is overtaking the climate models we use to guide us, and we are in danger of being unprepared for the risks posed by sea level rise.” (1)

The study, which compares recent satellite survey results of ice sheet mass and climate model calculations, presents clear warning the sheets are losing ice at a startling rate. Based on forecasts by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC.) this is the worst-case scenario. (1)

Ice Melting Causing Ice Sheet Losses

Co-author and fellow climate researcher Anna Hogg, of School of Earth and Environment at Leeds describes what this can mean for our environment. “If ice sheet losses continue to track our worst-case climate warming scenarios, we should expect an additional 17cm of sea level rise from the ice sheets alone,” she explains. “That’s enough to double the frequency of storm-surge flooding in many of the world’s largest coastal cities.” (1)

Ice Melting, Not Thermal Expansion

Historically, global sea levels tend to increase because of “thermal expansion”. This is when the volume of seawater expands as it heats up. However, looking at the past five years, it’s been the melting ice sheets and mountain glaciers at fault. (1)

According to the Danish Meteorological Institute, other melting ice contributes to the issue. “It is not only Antarctica and Greenland that are causing the water to rise,” says Ruth Mottram, climate researcher. “In recent years, thousands of smaller glaciers have begun to melt or disappear altogether, as we saw with the glacier Ok in Iceland, which was declared ‘dead’ in 2014. This means that melting of ice has now taken over as the main contributor of sea level rise. ” (1)

This is confirmed by another study author glaciologist Jonathan Kingslake. “Lots of places will be covered by lots and lots of water by the end of the century”, he says. (1)