Earth's Losing Ice Roughly The Size Of Telangana Every Year From Climate Change

Earth has managed to lose ice equal to the size of the state of Telangana, every year, since 1979, reveals a new study.

Reuters

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The study (published in Earth's Future) conducted by researchers from Lanzhou University in China states that the planet has lost close to 102,000 square kilometres of ice every year from the year 1979 to 2016.

This is based on the size of Earth¡¯s cryosphere -- an area of ice that¡¯s responsible for storing three-quarters of the planet¡¯s freshwater. The cryosphere acts as an accurate indicator revealing how the surface area of the planet is shrinking due to the warm temperatures caused by climate change.

Researchers calculated the daily extent of the cryosphere and averaged those values to generate yearly estimates. Even though it's normal for the cryosphere to shrink and grow based on the seasons of the planet, they discover that the area covered by Earth¡¯s cryosphere contracted a lot since 1979, correlating it with the rising temperatures.

The shrinkage was mostly seen in the Northern Hemisphere with a loss of 102,000 square kilometres -- around half the size of the state of Kansas or the entire state of Telangana -- every year.

These losses were offset a little with growth seen in the Southern Hemisphere where the cryosphere expanded by 14,000 square kilometres every year -- mostly in the Ross Sea around Antarctica, due to patterns of wind and ocean currents as well as cold meltwater from Antarctic sheets.

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Estimates also highlighted that climate change was also reducing the time ice remained frozen. The average first day of freezing now occurred about 3.6 days later than in 1970 and the ice thaw commences 5.7 days earlier than expected.

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Xiaoqing Peng, a geographer at Lanzhou University said in a statement, ¡°The cryosphere is one of the most sensitive climate indicators and the first one to demonstrate a changing world. Its change in size represents a major global change, rather than a regional or local issue.¡±