Melting Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets Fuel Rising Sea Levels
Summary
Antarctica and Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheets, fueled by global warming, are losing billions of tons of ice annually, contributing significantly to rising sea levels that threaten coastal regions worldwide.
Key Points
- Antarctica is losing ice mass at an average rate of about 136 billion tons per year, and Greenland is losing about 267 billion tons per year, contributing to sea level rise.
- The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica store about two-thirds of all the fresh water on Earth and are losing ice due to the ongoing warming of Earth's surface and ocean.
- Meltwater coming from these ice sheets is responsible for about one-third of the global average rise in sea level since 1993.