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In Antarctica, Greenland and other polar regions, icy glaciers cover large tracts of land and extend into the sea.
These glaciers shrink and grow with the seasons. Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol in the UK said that during the summer when some ice melts, they get smaller.
Bamber: “They get quality in winter, mainly from snowfall. … It's always been.”
But as people burn fossil fuels and add more carbon pollution to the atmosphere, the climate warms up, and over time, many glaciers shrink more than they grow.
Bamber: “If you get warmer summers… you get melted more. So the glaciers start to lose mass. The balance between winter snowfall and summer melting will skew if you want.”
So, year after year, many glaciers are losing ice.
As glacier ice melts into the ocean, the ocean rises – causing more frequent and wider flooding to coastal communities around the world.
Bamber: “Sea level rise is one of the worst and most certain consequences of global heating.”
So while glaciers may be far-reaching, their melting will cause far-reaching harm.
Report Credit: Sarah Kennedy/Chavobart Digital Media
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