Greenland's immense ice sheet has lost so much ice over the past 20 years that it can submerge the whole of USA in half a metre of water, according to data from Danish researchers, as per AFP.?
The climate getting warm quicker in the Arctic than anywhere else in the world and melting ice from Greenland a key factor in the rise in the Earth's oceans, says NASA.
Since the early measurements in 2002, the Greenland ice sheet has lost about 4700 billion tonnes of ice, said Polar Portal.?
That is "enough to cover the entire US by half a meter".?
"Independent observations also indicate that the ice is thinning, that the glacier fronts are retreating in fjords and on land, and that there is a greater degree of melting from the surface of the ice," the website added.?
Melting ice from Greenland is currently the main factor in the rise in the Earth's oceans.?
Climate scientists say that the Greenland ice sheet contains enough water to raise the oceans by more than seven metres.?
According to a study published by NASA in late January, the accelerated melting near Greenland's coasts can be explained by the warming of the Arctic Ocean.?
Arctic sea ice cover, although its melting has no effect on sea levels, has also shrunk considerably, losing almost 13 percent of its average surface area every 10 years.
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