 Greenland Ice Sheet Doomed? A recent modelling study by climatologists at the University of Reading in England, suggests that the Greenland ice sheet is all but doomed to melt away to nothing. Greenland has the world's second largest ice cap (after Antarctica). Remaining from the last ice age, it is up to 3,400 metres / 11,000 feet thick and contains about 2½ million cubic km / 1 million cubic miles of ice. If that much ice melts, sea levels worldwide would rise by 7 metres / 23 feet, flooding most of the world's coastal regions and cities. Good-bye London, New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles... Global warming could start a meltdown on Greenland within 50 years, and short of a new ice age, there is not likely anything that could stop it. There is some good news. A total meltdown is likely to take hundreds of years, so there's no need to rush for the lifeboats just yet.
Click pictures for more information and credits. Library: Arctic, Ice Environment/Atmosphere, Glaciers Links: Arctic, Ice Age, Environment, Glaciers Arctic Maps & Weather Reports |
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DICTIONARY: Just "double-click" any unlinked word on this page for the definition from Merriam-Webster's Student Electronic Dictionary at Word Central. |
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ARCTIC LIBRARY & GLOSSARY: Check this section for an index of the rest of the things you really need to know about the Arctic. |
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ARCTIC MAPS & WEATHER REPORTS: Maps of the Northwest Passage, explorers' routes, iceberg sources, Nunavut, the Arctic by treeline, temperature... |
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ARCTIC LINKS: Even more information! Links to sites related to the Arctic and "Iceberg: the Story of the Throps and the Squallhoots". |
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GUIDE TO ARCTIC SUNRISE & SUNSET: How much sunlight or darkness is there in the Arctic on each day of the year? |
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