Due to the human activities such as burning fossil
fuels and deforestation the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has
grown constantly.
From this graph it can be shown that over the space of 9 years the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 22.5ppm. Although this doesn’t seem like a substantial amount this has created a warmer atmosphere which has increased by 1.4°F since 1880. |
This increased temperature is not only making the
atmosphere warmer but is causing areas such as the arctic and Greenland to have
an increase in temperature causing the
ice caps and sheets to melt.
Data from NASA's Grace Satellites show that the land ice sheets in both
Antarctica and Greenland are losing mass. The continent of Antarctica has been
losing about 134 billion metric tons of ice per year since 2002, while the
Greenland ice sheet has been losing an estimated 287 billion metric tons
per year. From 1979 to 2006, summer melt on the ice sheet increased by
30 percent, reaching a new record in 2007. At higher elevations, an increase in
winter snow accumulation has partially offset the melt. However, the decline
continues to outpace accumulation because warmer temperatures have led to
increased melt and faster glacier movement at the island's edges. The area of
the sheet that experiences melting has increased by about 16% between 1979
(when measurements started) and 2002 (most recent data). The area of melting in
2002 broke all previous records.
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The Jakobshavn Glacier in western
Greenland drains the central ice sheet, and it is retreating inland faster than
any other. The glacier flows from upper right to lower left. The fjord beyond
the glacier terminus is packed with seasonal ice and icebergs. Terminus
locations before 2001 were determined by surveys; more recent contours were
derived from Landsat data. Without measurements of ice thickness, however, the
picture of ice loss is incomplete. (NASA image by Cindy Starr, based on data
from Ole Bennike and Anker Weidick (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland)
and Landsat data.)
Warmer temperatures are increasing the number of summer days when portions of the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet melt. Along the margins of the ice sheet, up to 20 additional days of melting occurred in 2005 compared to the average since 1988. (NASA map by Robert Simmon and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, based on data from Marco Tedesco, GSFC.) All of the effects of climate change are dependent on each other with the human activities being the independent variable. The more fossil fuels that are being burnt are causing an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which then causes the global temperature to rise. As it gets hotter the arctic starts to melt minimising the amount of surface area covered by ice and consequently the sea levels rise creating trouble for people living in lowland countries. |