A block of ice disappeared from the planet for a year

Since 1994, it is said that 1.2 trillion tons of ice has been extinguished on Earth every year. That means that it melted and became water. It doesn’t touch the 1.2 trillion tons, but it draws attention by expressing it in a way that virtually creates and arranges a large chunk of ice.

As if looking down at the Statue of Liberty, the towering cube of ice reaches a height of 10 km. This is the total amount of ice that humans lose on Earth each year. This is the result of burning fossil fuels over the past 20 years. In comparison, high-rise buildings look like toothpicks. As the ice reduction progresses, the ice mass becomes larger.

The basis for this CG ice mass was the latest study on the current status of the snow ice sphere published in the journal Cryosphere on January 25 (local time). A British team used satellite observations and climate models to investigate what was happening to Earth’s ice. Most of the research so far has focused on ice in the sea and on land. However, this paper is targeting both sea and land to better understand the amount of ice melted by climate change.

The research team said that international efforts are being made so far to study regions such as ice sheets and ice shelves that cover polar regions such as glaciers, Greenland, and Antarctica, and sea ice floating in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. All ice can be identified, and the necessary data is sufficient.

The researchers pointed out that the fastest disappearing on Earth is Arctic sea ice. The Arctic Ocean is said to have melted 7.6 trillion tons of ice between 1994 and 2017, when the survey began. Then, 6.5 trillion tons of the Antarctic ice layer disappeared over the same period. Recently, in 2017, the Larsen C ice shelf collapsed and the giant iceberg A68 was separated. The A68 is still wandering the Atlantic Ocean, and by the end of 2020, it approaches the island with many wildlife sanctuaries and is concerned about its impact on the ecosystem, including endangered species.

The survey is not only looking at the ice region, but also the amount, but the most shocking thing is what happens below the sea level in the ice layer. The ice shelf is an icy glacier that covers the land and protrudes from the sea. However, it was discovered through satellite or local observation that the ice layer could be eroded and slowly collapsed by hot water. If that happens, sea level rise will accelerate, and you will not be able to think that it will be centuries old. In fact, if all the Antarctic ice melts with water, the sea level is likely to rise by more than 3m.

Land dislocations such as Alaska and the Himalayas, like Greenland glaciers and ice sheets, are a major factor in sea level rise and all disappear at a tremendous rate. In areas that depend on glaciers and melt water, ice loss is a water loss and is a serious concern. The loss of sea ice and its impact on traditional Arctic lifestyles is also creating anxiety.

Gradually accelerating sea level rise can lead to catastrophe when a typhoon or hurricane approaches or lands. The tsunami caused by climate change could push the tsunami further inland when a typhoon occurs. Also, in addition to melting ice, various changes are taking place on Earth.

The cause of this situation is excessive heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is only 3% of the heat generated by melting ice. The surprisingly small amount of energy melts a large amount of ice, which has a huge impact on the environment, such as imbalance. In this sense, it can be said that the enormous chunk of ice that covers Manhattan is only the tip of the iceberg compared to the impact of human activities on the planet. Related information can be found here.