Greenland Ice Loss
The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, and the toll on Greenland’s massive ice sheet is becoming achingly clear.
According to new satellite data compiled by Polar Portal, a collection of four Danish government research institutions, Greenland has lost more than 5,100 billion tons (4,700 billion metric tons) of ice in the past 20 years — or roughly enough to flood the entire United States in 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) of water.
This extensive ice loss has contributed to half an inch (1.2 centimeters) of global sea-level rise in just two decades.
New Ocean Normal
A study of the past 150 years of ocean observations reveals that the rising temperatures of the world’s seas, including extreme oceanic heat waves, “passed the point of no return” in 2014.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium-sponsored study was published in the journal PLOS Climate and warns that the increasing warmth is devastating the ecosystem. It documents how extreme sea-surface temperatures occurred just 2% of the time a century ago, but have been happening at least 50% of the time since 2014. Some hot spots experienced extreme temperatures 90% of the time, ravaging wildlife populations.
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