melting

Satellites show Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than scientists realized

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A new study based on NASA and ESA satellite data shows that Arctic sea ice is thinning at a “frightening rate.” Measuring the ice via satellites each month from 2018 to 2021, polar scientists Sahra Kacimi of the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ron Kwok of the University of Washington’s Applied Physics … Read more

Greenland: Base of the ice sheet is melting faster than we thought

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As meltwater trickles down through the Greenland ice sheet, it heats up – which means that some areas at the base of the ice sheet are melting 100 times faster than we thought Environment 21 February 2022 By Alex Wilkins Water flowing down to the bed of Store glacier, Greenland Poul Christoffersen A new source … Read more

Could ancient viruses from melting permafrost cause the next pandemic?

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By Michael Marshall Melting permafrost in Russia’s Yamal peninsula (pictured) has exposed nomadic reindeer herders (below) to anthrax Elena Shchipkova/Alamy IN NOVEMBER 2019, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine held a workshop to discuss an emerging disease threat. Not covid-19: they were a couple of months too early for that. Instead, they … Read more

Winter Olympic Sites Are Melting Away because of Climate Crisis

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The number of places on Earth with the right combination of natural climate and geography for the Olympic Winter Games is already inherently limited. But as global temperatures rise from the burning of fossil fuels, the list is narrowing further. Factoring in the specific conditions that world-class skiers and snowboarders need to safely land tricks … Read more

Physicists Reveal The Weird Shapes Ice Takes as It Melts at Different Temperatures

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Melting ice can take on different shapes depending on the temperature of the water around it, new research reveals, giving us new insights into the complex physics that underlie this deceptively complicated transition.   The team behind the research created ultra-pure ‘clear’ ice for their experiments, free from bubbles and impurities, then observed the ice … Read more

Antarctic ‘Megaberg’ Released 152 Billion Tons of Freshwater Just Before Melting

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Scientists have been keeping a close eye on the ‘megaberg’ designated as A68a since it split off from Antarctica back in July 2017 – and new research highlights just how much freshwater it’s released into the ocean during its late melting process.   Satellite monitoring systems indicate that for three months at the end of its … Read more

Ice Shelf at Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Won’t Last 5 Years, Scientists Warn

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A crucial ice shelf on Antarctica‘s Thwaites Glacier is on track to collapse within five years, accelerating the melting of the notorious ‘doomsday glacier’. Thwaites, which is the size of Florida, is already melting quickly, losing about 50 billion tons of ice per year. The glacier earned its grim nickname because its total collapse would raise global sea … Read more