What Scientists Are Seeing Over Greenland 4K
Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 26 Σεπ 2015
Why
are scientists out flying over Greenland, drilling into its ice, and
monitoring it from space? The answer is that they see it as a bellwether
of future Earth.
Scientists are sampling, drilling, and flying
over this great island because they believe it may be a bellwether of
future Earth. Greenland is two million square kilometers of land… 81% of
which is covered by a giant central ice cap, the Inland Ice. Here is
2.8 million cubic kilometers of ice… layered and packed over the
millennia. Its thickest points lie beneath two massive ridges… the
northern at 3 kilometers thick, the southern at over 3.2 kilometers.
The
Inland Ice basin is framed by parallel mountain ranges. Its bedrock
basement floor is down near sea level… depressed by the weight of the
ice above it. If this ice sheet were to melt, the land beneath would be
underwater, dotted with small islands. Over time, with the weight
lifted, it would gradually rise. Today, the sheer mass of the Inland Ice
exerts a gravitational pull on surrounding oceans. This pull raises sea
levels all around the island.
In the event of extreme melting, a
recent study showed that sea levels would actually drop out to a
distance of about 1000 kilometers. More distance shores, however, would
experience an average global sea level rise of over 7 meters.
are scientists out flying over Greenland, drilling into its ice, and
monitoring it from space? The answer is that they see it as a bellwether
of future Earth.
Scientists are sampling, drilling, and flying
over this great island because they believe it may be a bellwether of
future Earth. Greenland is two million square kilometers of land… 81% of
which is covered by a giant central ice cap, the Inland Ice. Here is
2.8 million cubic kilometers of ice… layered and packed over the
millennia. Its thickest points lie beneath two massive ridges… the
northern at 3 kilometers thick, the southern at over 3.2 kilometers.
The
Inland Ice basin is framed by parallel mountain ranges. Its bedrock
basement floor is down near sea level… depressed by the weight of the
ice above it. If this ice sheet were to melt, the land beneath would be
underwater, dotted with small islands. Over time, with the weight
lifted, it would gradually rise. Today, the sheer mass of the Inland Ice
exerts a gravitational pull on surrounding oceans. This pull raises sea
levels all around the island.
In the event of extreme melting, a
recent study showed that sea levels would actually drop out to a
distance of about 1000 kilometers. More distance shores, however, would
experience an average global sea level rise of over 7 meters.
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