Photos from space show how the Greenland Ice Sheet is changing
Yahoo • • world
Key Points:
- The European Space Agency (ESA) released radar images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite revealing rapid melting and thinning of Greenland's Ice Sheet, which covers 80% of the island and is the world's second-largest ice mass.
- The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), a major drainage system discharging 12–17% of Greenland's ice into the North Atlantic, showed significant changes in ice movement and mass loss between January and March.
- Greenland's ice melt, driven by global warming and climate change, contributes to rising sea levels that have increased by 8 to 9 inches since 1880, with potential to rise up to 7 meters if the ice sheet fully melts, causing catastrophic global consequences.
- Rising sea levels threaten coastal areas by increasing flooding, shoreline erosion, and storm hazards, impacting nearly 30% of the U.S. population living in these regions.
