The researchers studied 19 000 glaciers in 19 regions of the world, assessing their thickness in different years. Of course, they didn't have to run around the glaciers with the measuring instruments — they used satellite data from the European space Agency and project GlobGlacier. Also at the disposal of scientists were topographical data about the landscape of the different regions they were collected over many decades.

It turned out that the biggest loss suffered Alaska for half a century it was destroyed 3 trillion tons of glacial ice. In the second place loss turned out to be Greenland, with 1,237 trillion tons of ice, and the third mountain chain of the Andes in South America, where melted 1,208 trillion tons of ice. Russia and Canada have lost a little over a trillion tonnes.

The map shows how many tons of ice lost each of the studied regions

The ice was formed only on one of the 19 regions — it was South-West Asia with 119 billion tons of additional ice. Unfortunately, neighboring Southeast Asia is driving this result is no, because at the same time, she lost 112 tons.

The melt water caused a noticeable lifting of level of world ocean. According to the calculations of the team For half a century the level rose to as much as 27 millimeters, and this process every year is accelerating. Researcher Michael Zemp announced that currently the Earth is losing about 335 billion tons of ice per year, which annually raises global sea level by 1 millimeter.

Scientists is extremely important to keep track of all these changes to create accurate climate models and to be prepared for possible natural disasters. These include, for example, include floods and droughts.

Ramis Ganiev

Source: https://hi-news.ru/research-development/ledniki-poteryali-9-trillionov-tonn-lda-k-chemu-eto-privelo.html

Tags: climate