Glaciers May Vanish in 'Geologic Instant'

Ice sheets could send sea level up 6 inches by 2050

(NEWSER) - The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are melting significantly faster than previously estimated, according to a new international report led by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Unless the trend is reversed, the melting ice sheets will push global sea levels up six inches by 2050, the scientists found. More»

Antarctica jet filling in for dying satellite

(NEWSER) - NASA has begun a mission much closer to home than usual. The agency is flying a DC-8 over Antarctica to track melting glaciers and any subsequent rise in sea levels. Operation Ice Bridge is designed to buttress the work of a fading satellite, ICESat, which is just about spent after 7 years of service. Its replacement won't be in orbit until 2015 at the earliest, reports NPR . More»

(NEWSER) - Three major glaciers in Alaska and Washington state have rapidly shrunk over the last 50 years due to global warming—and the melting is accelerating as the climate changes, notes a government study released yesterday. The glaciers, chosen as "benchmarks" because their conditions closely parallel those of thousands of others, are in different climates and elevations but all have lost large amount of ice as conditions become warmer and drier, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

'The Arctic is screaming,' says scientist

(NEWSER) - Greenland's Arctic ice melted at rates far surpassing any previous year in 2007, according to new data, indicating that the change is happening far faster than predicted. "The Arctic is screaming," said one scientist. If melting continues at this rate, the Arctic Ocean would be "nearly ice-free" in 2012, warned another researcher. More»

Earth at 'tipping point' of irreversible catastrophe: UN chief Ban Ki-Moon

(NEWSER) - The last and most forceful of a series of UN reports on climate change unveiled today urges swift action to avoid "abrupt and irreversible" damage to the environment. Melting glaciers will cause a rapid rise in sea levels, wiping out vulnerable species and destroying water and food supplies for many of the world's poorest people, warns the report by the Nobel prize-winning UN climate change panel, the BBC reports. More»