New
Size Estimates Define How Much Earth's Glaciers Could Raise Sea Level
The
relatively small glaciers that drape the planet's mountains will play
an important role in future sea level rise, according to a new study
that estimated glaciers' collective size.
24
October, 2012
Researchers
calculated the ice thickness for 171,000 glaciers
worldwide, excluding the
Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which hold the bulk of Earth's
frozen water.
Through
a combination of direct satellite observations and modeling, they
determined the total volume of ice tied up in the glaciers is nearly
41,000 cubic miles (170,000 cubic kilometers), plus or minus 5,000
cubic miles (21,000 cubic km).
If
all the glaciers were to melt, global
sea levels would rise almost
17 inches (43 centimeters), the scientists found.
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