The rate of ice loss for Žemė has increased by 57% from 0.8 to 1.2 trillion tonnes per year since 1990s. As a result, the sea level has risen by about 35 mm. The majority of the ice loss is attributed to warming of the Žemė.
Klimato kaita, one of the key environmental issues facing mankind is the culmination of the chain of interlinked manmade processes. Deforestation, industrialisation and other related activities lead to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which in turn traps more infrared radiation leading to an increase in temperature of the Žemė (globalinis atšilimas). A warmer Žemė leads to global ice loss caused by melting particularly in glaciers, in mountains and polar regions. As a result, sea level rise hence the increased risk of flooding in coastal areas and adverse impact on society and economy at large. The main reason for the Žemės ice loss is globalinis atšilimas. The extent of ice loss in quantitative terms in relation to Žemės warming was not known hitherto. A new research sheds light on this for the first time.
In order to find out the rate at which the Žemė lost ice in the last three decades; the research team primarily used the satellite observation data collected from 1994 to 2017. For Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, the satellite measurements alone were used while for Antarctic ice shelves, a combination of satellite observations and in situ measurements were used to quantify changes in mountain glaciers and for sea ice, a combination of numerical models and satellite observations were used.
Komanda tai atrado Žemė has lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice between 1994 and 2017. The largest loss was in the Arctic Sea ice (7.6 trillion tonnes), Antarctic ice shelves (6.5 trillion tonnes), mountain glaciers (6.1 trillion tonnes) followed by the Greenland ice sheet (3.8 trillion tonnes), the Antarctic ice sheet (2.5 trillion tonnes), and Southern Ocean sea ice (0.9 trillion tonnes). In all, the loss was more in the Northern Hemisphere. The rate of ice loss for Žemė was increased by 57% from 0.8 to 1.2 trillion tonnes per year since 1990s. As a result, the sea level has risen by about 35 mm and the loss of floating ice has reduced albedo. The majority of the ice loss is attributed to atšilimas Žemės.
Jūros lygio kilimas ateityje neigiamai paveiks pakrančių bendruomenes.
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Šaltiniai:
- Slater, T., Lawrence, IR ir kt., 2021 m. Apžvalgos straipsnis: Žemės ledo disbalansas, The Cryosphere, 15, 233–246, Paskelbta: 25 m. sausio 2021 d. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-233-2021
- ESA 2021. Programos – mūsų pasaulis rekordiškai greitai praranda ledą. Paskelbta: 25 m. sausio 2021 d. Prieiga prie interneto adresu https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/CryoSat/Our_world_is_losing_ice_at_record_rate Žiūrėta 26 m. sausio 2021 d.
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