Greenland lost around 600 billion scads of ice during theexceptionally warm Arctic summerof 2019 , enough to upgrade global sea levels by 2.2 millimetre in two month . While much of this water would have return back into ice once winter came around , the noteworthy scale of melting is certainly a cause for headache .
New research led by the University of California , Irvine ( UCI ) , and NASA has used satellite gravity measure to assess the heaviness and span of ice sheet in both Greenland and Antarctica . Reported in the journalGeophysical Research Letters , the team count on that Greenland lost 4,550 billion tons of trash between 2002 and 2019 , an average of 268 billion tons annually . The rate of melting come along to be on the increase too , with last summer ’s red in Greenland equal more than double the yearly average between 2002 and 2019 .
" We knew this past summer had been particularly warm in Greenland , melting every corner of the ice canvas . But the numbers really are enormous , " lead author Isabella Velicogna , fourth-year project scientist at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a prof at UC , said in astatement .
Meanwhile , on the opposite terminal of the satellite in Antarctica , there ’s a slightly more complex flick . Antarctica has continued to lose pile in the Amundsen Sea Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula in the westerly part of the continent . However , much of this is often set by increase snowfall in Queen Maud Land in the eastern part of the continent .
" In Antarctica , the aggregative loss in the west issue unabated , which will lead to an even further increment in ocean level lift , " adds Velicogna . " But we also honor a mass gain in the Atlantic sector of East Antarctica because of an uptick in snow , which help mitigate the tremendous increase in aggregated loss that we have seen in the last two X on other parts of the continent . "
“ It ’s great to see how well the data draw up in Greenland and Antarctica , even at the regional level , ” continued Velicogna .
Using two monovular satellites that fly about 220 kilometre ( 137 miles ) aside in a polar orbit 500 kilometers ( 310 mile ) above Earth , the GRACE charge mathematical function elusive variations in Earth ’s gravity field , giving perceptivity into how mass is pass around around the planet and how it deviate over time . data point from the commission has been used to reach unprecedented insight into Earth ’s ocean , geology , climate , and – of course of study – ice rink sheets .
In one of its more late endeavors , the GRACE Gemini the Twins were used to analyze the state of Earth ’s freshwater source . Just like this recent project , thefindings are a effort for concern .
