MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2021) The rate at which glacial ice is disappearing from the planet due to climate change has accelerated by 57 percent over the last 24 years, according to a study by a group of scientists who used satellite observations and numerical models, published on Monday.
"The overall rate of ice loss has increased by 57 percent over the past 24 years compared to the 1990s, and in situ measurements of changes in glacier mass and satellite records of ice shelf extent which predate the complete survey confirm this trend. Although a small fraction of mountain glacier losses are associated with retreat since the little ice there can be little doubt that the vast majority of Earth's ice loss is a direct consequence of climate warming," a study, published in the Cryosphere journal, read.
The majority of ice loss - 68 percent - was driven by atmospheric melting, while the remaining 32 percent were caused by oceanic melting, according to the study, led by the UK-based University of Leeds.
"Altogether, these elements of the cryosphere have taken up 3.2 percent of the global energy imbalance," the article read.
In September, the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring said that the floating ice cover of the Arctic Ocean has lost about two-thirds of its thickness over the past 60 years, with 70 percent of the current ice cap melting within one year.
