The climatic changes taking place world over are making the glaciers melt at a very fast pace, as per the U.S. Geological Survey and British Antarctic Survey.
The Wordie Ice Shelf, which had been crumbling since the 1960’s, does not exist any more. Also, the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf is gone. Since 1986, more than 3,200 square miles have split off from the Larsen shelf.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated, “The rapid retreat of glaciers there demonstrates once again the profound effects our planet is already experiencing- more rapidly than previously known-as a consequence of climate change.”
The melting of glaciers should serve as a wake up call that a significant change in the climate is occurring. We all need to be prepared for what lies ahead, said USGS glaciologist Jane Ferrigno, who led the Antarctica study.
She further added, “Antarctica is of special interest because it holds an estimated 91 percent of the Earth's glacier volume, and change anywhere in the ice sheet poses significant hazards to society.”
One of the other reports that appeared in the journals Geophysical Letters and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, states that melting of ice is taking place at a faster than expected rate in the Arctic as well. These results have been obtained after doing a thorough computer analysis and latest ice measurements.
The U.N. Climate Panel has given a very dismal projection about the world weather. As per the panel, the world atmosphere temperature will go up by 1.8 to 4.0 degrees Celsius. This will happen as a result of excessive release of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
And because of this climatic change, there will be a lot of devastation in the form of floods, droughts, heat waves and more fierce storms.
Moreover, the melting of glaciers and ice sheets can lead to an overall rise in the ocean level. Also, there is a big threat of flooding of low-lying areas.
The major factors contributing towards global warming are industrialization, deforestation, and pollution. Due to these factors, the amount of water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide has increased in the atmosphere. These gases trap the heat near the earth’s surface and cause an increase in the temperature.
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