Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 22, 2025
06:27
Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems
Published on: June 30, 2020
7.3K
Pervasive ice sheet mass loss reflects competing ocean and atmosphere processes
Ben Smith1, Helen A Fricker2, Alex S Gardner3
1Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. besmith@uw.edu.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|May 2, 2020
Summary
Earth's ice sheets are losing mass, contributing to sea level rise. Satellite data show Greenland and Antarctica are losing billions of tonnes annually due to melting ice.
Area of Science:
- * Earth Science
- * Glaciology
- * Climate Science
Background:
- * Accurate sea level projections rely on quantifying ice sheet mass changes and understanding climate drivers.
- * Previous estimates varied due to different methodologies and data sources.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To provide unified estimates of ice mass change for Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from 2003 to 2019.
- * To identify climate processes influencing these mass changes.
Main Methods:
- * Utilized NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and ICESat-2 satellite laser altimetry data.
- * Analyzed grounded and floating ice mass changes using unified estimation techniques.
Main Results:
- * Significant ice loss from coastal Greenland (surface melt) and Antarctic ice shelves (ocean melt).
- * Mass gains in ice sheet interiors (snow accumulation) partially offset losses.
- * Total grounded-ice loss: 200 billion tonnes/year from Greenland and 118 billion tonnes/year from Antarctica, contributing 14 mm to sea level.
- * West Antarctic ice shelves lost over 30% of the region's total mass.
Conclusions:
- * Global ice sheet mass loss is accelerating, primarily driven by melting processes.
- * Ice sheet dynamics are complex, involving competing surface and ocean melting, alongside snow accumulation.
- * Continued monitoring is crucial for refining sea level rise predictions.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Isochoric and Isobaric Processes
4.1K
A thermodynamic process that occurs at constant volume is called an isochoric process. According to the first law of thermodynamics, heat supplied or removed from the system is partially utilized to perform work and change the internal energy of the system. However, in an isochoric process, the volume remains constant. Hence, the work done by the system is zero. Therefore, the exchange of heat changes the internal energy of the system only.
Suppose 1000 g of water is heated from 40...
Suppose 1000 g of water is heated from 40...
4.1K
01:50Global Climate Change
28.3K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
28.3K
02:33Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
19.4K
Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
19.4K
01:21Isothermal Processes
4.7K
A thermodynamic process that occurs at constant temperature is called an isothermal process. Heat slowly flows into the system or out of the system to maintain thermal equilibrium. Processes involving phase changes like water evaporation into steam or freezing water into ice at a constant temperature are examples of Isothermal Processes.
An ideal gas can also undergo isothermal expansion or compression.
For example, consider 1 mole of an ideal gas inside an isolated cylinder at initial volume V...
An ideal gas can also undergo isothermal expansion or compression.
For example, consider 1 mole of an ideal gas inside an isolated cylinder at initial volume V...
4.7K
01:12Precipitation Processes
4.3K
The experimental conditions in a gravimetric analysis should be optimized to maximize the particle size and purity of the obtained precipitate. Ideally, the concentration of the precipitating reagent should be low with effective stirring to maintain low relative supersaturation for the growth of large crystals. In homogeneous precipitation, the precipitant is slowly generated by a chemical reaction in the solution to avoid local reagent excesses. For example, urea decomposes gradually to...
4.3K
02:39Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
14.4K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
14.4K