Sentences with phrase «ice sheet mass»

In fact, there are now well over 150 individual assessments of ice sheet mass balance based on measurements acquired by at least 15 different satellite missions.

The study of ice sheet mass balance underwent two major advances, one during the early 1990s, and again early in the 2000s.

Data for the modern rate of annual ice sheet mass changes indicate an accelerating rate of mass loss consistent with a mass loss doubling time of a decade or less (Fig. 10).

Data for the modern rate of annual ice sheet mass changes indicate an accelerating rate of mass loss consistent with a mass loss doubling time of a decade or less (Fig. 10).

Scientists monitor ice sheet mass balance through a variety of techniques.

In light of these developments, it is now time for an updated community assessment of ice sheet mass balance.

To say nothing of the warming trends also noticed in, for example: * ocean heat content * wasting glaciers * Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheet mass loss * sea level rise due to all of the above * sea surface temperatures * borehole temperatures * troposphere warming (with stratosphere cooling) * Arctic sea ice reductions in volume and extent * permafrost thawing * ecosystem shifts involving plants, animals and insects

A recent article in Reviews of Geophysics explores the role that tides play in ice sheet mass loss and in the interpretation of measurements that are used to identify longer - term trends in the thickness and velocity of ice sheets.

Since 2006, high summer melt rates have increased Greenland ice sheet mass loss to 273 gigatons per year (0.75 millimeters per year of equivalent sea level rise).

«The most reliable indication of the imminence of multi-meter sea level rise may be provided by empirical evaluation of the doubling time for ice sheet mass loss.»

The corresponding increased ice sheet mass loss has often followed thinning, reduction or loss of ice shelves or loss of floating glacier tongues.

The Washington Post asks Ian Joughin about a recent study, in the journal Science Advances, using a GPS network which measures ice sheet mass loss in Greenland and re-evaluates previous studies.

For example, if ice sheet mass loss becomes rapid, it is conceivable that the cold fresh water added to the ocean could cause regional surface cooling [199], perhaps even at a point when sea level rise has only reached a level of the order of a meter [200].

If ice sheet disintegration reaches a point such that the dynamics and momentum of the process take over, at that point reducing greenhouse gases may be unable to prevent major ice sheet mass loss, sea level rise of many meters, and worldwide loss of coastal cities — a consequence that is irreversible for practical purposes.

This is despite using observed ice sheet mass loss (0.19 mm / year) in the «modelled» number in this comparison, otherwise the discrepancy would be even larger — the ice sheet models predict that the ice sheets gain mass due to global warming.

Because Antarctica drains more than 80 percent of its ice sheet through floating ice shelves, accelerated glacier flow has the potential to affect ice sheet mass balance dramatically and raise sea level (Pritchard et al. 2012).

Cordilleran Ice Sheet mass loss responded to climate reversals near the Pleistocene Termination

The ICESat mission provided multi-year elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as cloud property information.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), loss of Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet mass contributed, respectively, about 0.21 ± 0.35 and 0.21 ± 0.07 mm / year to sea level rise between 1993 and 2003.

Ice sheet mass decreased at 152 ± 80 cubic kilometers of ice per year, equal to 0.4 ± 0.2 millimeters of sea level rise per year.

The impacts of ice shelf collapse and ensuing glacier acceleration are substantial, but in general, the effects of ocean melt are proving to be far more important in controlling ice sheet mass balance.

Going forwards, IMBIE provides a framework for assessing ice sheet mass balance, and has an explicit aim to widen participation to enable the entire scientific community to become involved.

Alley, R. B., Spencer, M. K. & Anandarkrishnan, S. Ice sheet mass balance: Assessment, attribution and prognosis.

Skeptic Argument: Ice Sheet losses are overestimated Response: Wu et al (2010) use a new method to calculate ice sheet mass balance.

We take this as an estimate of the part of the present ice sheet mass imbalance that is due to recent ice flow acceleration (Section 4.6.3.2), and assume that this contribution will persist unchanged.

Without the moderating effects of increased snowfall and refreezing, post-1996 Greenland ice sheet mass losses would have been 100 % higher.

Furthermore, the sea level budget approach presented in this study allows us to constrain independent estimates of the Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) correction applied to GRACE - based ocean and ice sheet mass changes, as well as of glaciers melting.

Hager, B. H. Weighing the ice sheets using space geodesy: A way to measure changes in ice sheet mass.

GRACE has been a phenomenal success for climate science since its 2002 launch despite skepticism from ice scientists about how well the new technique would work to measure ice sheet masses.

For example, if ice sheet mass loss becomes rapid, it is conceivable that the cold fresh water added to the ocean could cause regional surface cooling [199], perhaps even at a point when sea level rise has only reached a level of the order of a meter [200].

If ice sheet disintegration reaches a point such that the dynamics and momentum of the process take over, at that point reducing greenhouse gases may be unable to prevent major ice sheet mass loss, sea level rise of many meters, and worldwide loss of coastal cities — a consequence that is irreversible for practical purposes.

But again the «models» estimate includes an observed ice sheet mass loss term of 0.41 mm / year whereas ice sheet models give a mass gain of 0.1 mm / year for this period; considering this, observed rise is again 50 % faster than the best model estimate for this period.

Ancillary to Bob Loblaw's fine comment at 232, previous research has shown that ice sheet mass contributions from land - based ice sheets have exceeded thermal expansion as the biggest contributor to global sea level rise.