Melting glaciers may cause 10 inch rise in sea level by 2100: Study

Melting glaciers worldwide could result in almost 10 inches of sea level rise by the end of this century, a study warns.

The research, published in the Journal of Glaciology,indicates that the smaller glaciers could play a much larger role in sea levelrise than researchers had previously thought.

   

The review is the most comprehensive global comparison ofglacier simulations ever compiled, researchers said.

It estimates that glaciers worldwide are likely to loseanywhere from 18 to 36 per cent of their mass by 2100.

“The clear message is that there’s mass loss — substantialmass loss — all over the world,” said Regine Hock, from the University AlaskaFairbanks in the US.

The anticipated loss of ice varies by region, but thepattern is evident.

“We have more than 200 computer simulations, and they allsay the same thing. Even though there are some differences, that’s really consistent,”Hock said.

This is the only comprehensive and systematic endeavour todate to compare global-scale glacier models and their projections. The studycompared 214 glacier simulations from six research groups around the world and”all of them paint the same picture,” Hock said. Researchers examined the masschanges for over 200,000 glaciers worldwide, totalling an area equal to thesize of Texas.

The study does not include the vast ice sheets in Greenlandor Antarctica, whose behaviour is different from mountain and land-basedglaciers and which require unique modeling methods.

The results indicate that the smaller glaciers could play amuch larger role in sea level rise than researchers had previously thought.

Most research has focused on ice sheets in Greenland andAntarctica, due to their size and prominence, but the effect of smallerglaciers is significant.

“We confirm that they are really substantial contributors tosea level rise,” Hock said.

For example, Alaska’s 25,000 glaciers will lose between 30per cent and 50 per cent of their mass by the end of this century. Once theydo, Alaska will be the largest global regional sea level contributor inNorthern Hemisphere, apart from Greenland.

“Globally, there’s almost 10 inches of sea level rise by2100 only from the smaller glaciers, whereas everybody thinks it’s onlyAntarctica and Greenland,” Hock said.

“But these relatively small glaciers in the world have an enormous impact,” Hock said.

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