Scientists Are Concerned About Ice Rapidly Melting Across the Globe
According to a study from 2021, ice loss across the globe has continued to melt at an accelerated pace over the past 20 years. The numbers are staggering.
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The study shows that 760 billion tons of ice melted per year in the 1990s, but this figure increased to upwards of 1.2 trillion tons of ice since the 2010s. NASA has also echoed similar sentiments regarding the fast past of the Earth’s melting ice. A NASA study conducted on the Greenland ice sheet revealed that as many as 74 giant glaciers “are being severely undercut and weakened” due to climate change.
Some Continue to Minimize the Dangers of Climate Change
The Washington Post published an article with the frightening headline, “Earth is now losing 1.2 trillion tons of ice each year,” before issuing a clear warning, “And it’s only going to get worse.”
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While many believe that the effects of climate change are going to wreak havoc on our world, others are less convinced that the damage is that bad. Some researchers have minimized the problems caused by global warming, including Eric Rignot, a glacier researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California at Irvine.
Everyone Can Admit the Ice Is Melting Faster Than Anticipated
According to Rigot, “It’s like cutting the feet off the glacier rather than melting the whole body.”
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He doesn’t believe that the rapidly melting ice will cause much long-term harm, saying, “You melt the feet and the body falls down, as opposed to melting the whole body. I think this is an example that the current projections are conservative.” He did, however, admit that ice is melting at a more swift pace than originally anticipated. “As we peer below we realize these feedbacks are kicking in faster than we thought.”
The Two Studies Offer a Unique Comparison
The first study shows that current ice losses could mean catastrophe for sea-level rise according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The NASA-based study suggests that researchers may be grossly underestimating future sea-level rise.
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National Geographic has been invested in the Earth’s rapidly melting ice for quite some time, and a few years ago the publication created a visual representation of what the world would look like if all the ice melted. National Geographic partnered with scientists and universities worldwide to produce a mock-up of what the world would look like if “the sea level rose by 216 feet.”
Virtual Depictions of All of the Planet’s Melted Ice Are Jarring
National Geographic’s hypothetical depiction showed what the Earth would look like if all of the world’s ice had simultaneously melted. This included ice from continents, glaciers, ice sheets, and the ice on oceans and lakes.
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In 2015, Business Insider also hopped on board the theoretical journey to determine what the planet would look like if all of the ice melted. Based on National Geographic’s research, Business Insider created a video that showed the grim fate of the Earth if this scenario were to come to fruition. The clip shows that many European countries such as Brussels and Venice would likely become submerged underwater.
Predictions of Worldwide Destruction Are Chilling
Highly populated regions of Europe being flooded would cause a disastrous number of casualties and destruction for our world.
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The video also painted an unfortunate outcome in Africa and the Middle East, as areas like Dakar, Accra, and Jeddah would also be submerged underwater. Asia also doesn’t fare well if this alarming video were to become a reality. Millions of people living in Mumbai, Beijing, and Tokyo would be forced from their homes due to the abundance of water and the rising sea level.
The Entire State of Florida Would Be Submerged
In South America, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires would also be flooded. Things wouldn’t be much better in the United States, either.
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Big cities such as Houston, San Francisco, and New York City would be entirely underwater and the state of Florida as a whole would slowly be gobbled up by the sea. While these visuals are undeniably scary, they are meant to show the severity of what possibly lies ahead if we aren’t more cautious.
The Viral Video of What the Earth Would Look Like Has Over 22 Million Views
Business Insider’s eye-opening video has received more than 22 million views and over 28,000 comments from concerned viewers.
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People from all over the world voiced their opinions on the matter in the comments section. “The power of water is incredible,” wrote one person. “We’ve seen so many examples of that – hurricanes, tsunamis…People still are not taking this seriously.” Another commenter added, “The fact that this is actually happening now at an alarming rate.”
What Is Contributing to Global Warming?
All of this may sound like something out of an apocalyptic movie, but scientists believe that the Earth is continuously put at risk for such a horrific fate.
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Burning fossil fuels for energy and emitting carbon into the atmosphere continues to cause irreversible damage to the planet. As this happens, the Earth gets warmer and warmer over time. At some point, the Earth will become so warm that all of the ice will melt, resulting in devastation across the globe.
Limiting Fossil Fuels Could Stop Ice From Rapidly Melting
It’s clear to see that the past pace of melting ice is a huge problem.
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There are various forms of fossil fuels including coal, oil, and natural gas. When heated, fossil fuels release a large amount of carbon dioxide into the air, creating the primary cause of climate change. According to a study published in Science Advances by scientists in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, we already have acquired enough fossil fuel resources to melt the Antarctic ice sheet.
Experts Have Weighed In on Harmful Fossil Fuels
Ricarda Winkelmann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, has issued a fair warning to people who want to avoid such a fatal melting event from destroying the Earth as we know it.
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“This would not happen overnight, but the mind-boggling point is that our actions today are changing the face of planet Earth as we know it and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years to come,” she said. “If we want to avoid Antarctica to become ice-free, we need to keep coal, gas, and oil in the ground.”