Understanding the Planet's Ice Melt
As technology advances, we are better able to understand where our planet’s ice is melting, the rate at which it’s melting and most importantly, it’s affect on the planet and our lives. This is a concise article from Inside Climate News that illuminates some new details.
“On a Melting Planet, More Precisely Tracking the Decline of Ice
New laser measurements can help pinpoint how and when the world’s vast stores of ice will vanish.
From the frozen crags of the Andes and Rockies to country-sized ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica, global warming is melting the world's ice at a dizzying rate. In the last five years, mountain glaciers have unexpectedly disintegrated and collapsed, including a pair of deadly ice avalanches in Tibet. In Alaska, a quarter-mile section of the Flat Creek glacier broke away and oozed down the valley, mowing down 400-year-old trees.
This ice loss is worrying for many reasons. Modern humans evolved on a planet where ice has been a crucial regulator, reflecting some of the sun's heat back to space, and storing huge amounts of moisture…”