ice melt

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Scientists Followed 20 Polar Bears. Their Findings Are Grim

The creatures are starving as climate change causes ice melt and they can't access main prey

(Newser) - Imagine being a nursing mom who can't produce milk because you're starving, or trying to swim more than 100 miles after not eating for days. Those are just a couple of the scenarios Time notes are now plaguing polar bears in the Arctic as sea ice continues to...

Greenland Ice Sheet Losing 30M Tons of Ice Per Hour

New study finds an increase to the amount previously estimated

(Newser) - A new study on Greenland's ice cap has disturbing implications: Researchers found it's losing more than 30 million tons of ice per hour, on average. That's a lot more than had previously been estimated, and it means more freshwater is going into the north Atlantic Ocean than...

Greenland's Temps Spike in the Shape of a Hockey Stick

Ice core data shows sharp uptick in temps there since 1995—the warmest in more than 1,000 years

(Newser) - A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to new ice core data. Until now, Greenland ice cores— a glimpse into long-running temperatures...

Worryingly, Scientists Can Wear T-Shirts in Greenland

Ice melt has accelerated in recent days

(Newser) - T-shirt weather has arrived for a group of people who would be a lot happier with colder temperatures: researchers stationed on Greenland's ice sheet. Scientists tell CNN that temperatures in some areas are around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 degrees higher than normal. The spike in heat has triggered rapid...

Over 3 Days, 29B Tons of Ice Melted Here

Greenland is experiencing near-record melting of surface ice

(Newser) - Forget about ice skating in Greenland: The island nation's surface ice is melting at a nearly record rate as Europe's heat wave moves into the Arctic, CNN reports. And by melting, we mean 11 billion tons on Thursday alone; 11 billion tons on Wednesday, per the CBC ; and...

Canadian Arctic Now Looks Like Swiss Cheese
More Bad News as
Canadian Arctic Melts
NEW STUDY

More Bad News as Canadian Arctic Melts

Permafrost thawing 70 years sooner than expected, with consequences

(Newser) - In 2016, researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks hopped in a plane, heading for remote sites in the Canadian Arctic. "What we saw was amazing," Vladimir Romanovsky tells Reuters . "It's an indication that the climate is now warmer than at any time in the last...

Photo of Dogs Goes Viral, and Sparks a Conversation

They're walking through meltwater in Greenland

(Newser) - It's no wonder the photo went viral: The sled dogs appear to be walking on water. The story behind the June 13 image is making the rounds as well. It was taken by Danish scientist Steffen Olsen in northwest Greenland, where the dogs were traversing an ice sheet roughly...

'It's Too Late': Greenland's Ice Melt Will Raise Sea Levels

'The only question is: How severe does it get?'

(Newser) - Glacial ice on Greenland's coasts is calving into the sea , but that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. By 2012, ice loss on Greenland's massive ice sheet had accelerated to a rate nearly four times what it was in 2003, and it may have...

Antarctic Ice Melt Is Accelerating Rapidly

3 trillion tons of ice have melted since 1992, study says

(Newser) - Scientists monitoring ice loss in Antarctica have chilling news: The melting rate has accelerated alarmingly and the ice sheet is now shedding more than 200 billion tons a year, according to a study involving 88 scientists published in the journal Nature . The researchers say the rate of ice loss has...

That's Not Ice Covering a Melting Swiss Glacier

Rhone Glacier's white blankets used to reflect sunlight

(Newser) - With the coming of spring, people will be putting away the extra blankets that kept them warm through a chilly winter. Others in Switzerland will be blanketing a glacier. As E&E News reports, huge white blankets of canvas will be used to cover the Rhone Glacier in the Swiss...

Greenland Is Getting Darker Before Our Very Eyes

The frosty island could soon be 10% darker than it is today

(Newser) - The white, reflective surface of Greenland's snowpack is getting darker and less reflective, all thanks to what the Christian Science Monitor calls "positive feedback loops"—the idea that a little bit of melting leads to more and faster melting. "We knew that these processes had been...

Scientists Find Key Culprit in Antarctic Ice Melt

Underwater storms bringing warm water to polar ice: study

(Newser) - Storms aren't just a result of global warming, they may actually be causing the unstoppable Antarctic ice melt . Robots patrolling more than 3,250 feet below the Weddell Sea have discovered underwater storms are helping thaw Antarctic ice as they drive warm water toward polar ice shelves. Essentially, researchers...

Arctic Hasn't Been This Warm in 44K Years

Maybe even far longer, according to new study

(Newser) - The Arctic's current warming trend is the worst it's experienced in at least 44,000 years—and possibly even longer—a new study has concluded. Scientists examining vegetation in the Canadian Arctic found recently-exposed moss that, based on radiocarbon dating, was between 44,000 and 51,000 years...

Arctic Ice Hits Drastic New Low
 Arctic Ice Hits Drastic New Low 

Arctic Ice Hits Drastic New Low

Melt ends with ice 293K square miles below 2007 record

(Newser) - Sea ice in the Arctic shrank to a record low on August 27 —and kept shrinking for 20 days. The sea has finally begun to refreeze after bottoming out on September 16 at 1.32 million square miles, almost 300,000 square miles less than the record set at...

China Muscles In on Race for Piece of Arctic Pie

Beijing increasingly aggressive as stakes get higher

(Newser) - As Arctic ice continues to melt at a disturbing pace , the "Cold War" in the region is heating up. Global superpowers, excited about the oil, gas, minerals, and shipping lanes that are being made newly available thanks to the melting ice, are vying for position in the region—and...

Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to New Low

And the melt will likely continue another 2 weeks

(Newser) - It's a record that won't likely last very long: The Arctic sea ice cover today hit a record low, announced the National Snow and Ice Data Center, but the shrinking isn't about to stop. The ice cover had reduced to 1.58 million square miles as of...

Satellite Spots Vast Greenland Ice Melt

97% surface melt unprecedented in 30 years of satellite observations

(Newser) - Greenland isn't just losing Manhattan-sized chunks of ice from its huge glaciers. A heat-dome that moved over Greenland on July 8 caused surface melt to soar from 40% to an unprecedented 97% in just four days, reports Live Science . Typically, just half of Greenland's surface ice melts during...

Arctic Melting Faster Than Expected

Report adds 2 to 3 feet to global sea level prediction

(Newser) - Global sea levels are likely to raise two or three feet more than previously predicted this century, because the Arctic is melting significantly faster than expected, scientists conclude in a new report being presented to international officials today. The report, which examined the past six years' worth of data, predicts...

Greenland, Antarctic Ice Melting Faster Than Expected

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...

US Glaciers Shrinking Fast
 US Glaciers Shrinking Fast  

US Glaciers Shrinking Fast

(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...

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