Scientists predict melting of 'Zombie Ice' to raise global sea level by 10 inches

Scientists predict the melting of ‘Zombie Ice’ to raise global sea level by 10 inches

In Greenland’s earlier times, it seemed as though the ice would never end. But now, it will undoubtedly witness a very different future. Due to climate change,  the ‘doomed ice’ and ‘zombie ice’ portions of frozen ice sheets will begin to melt and raise the sea level by at least 10.6 inches, as per a study brought out in the Nature Climate Change journal. The vast majority of Greenland has been covered by an ice sheet for 18 million years, due to being largely located within the Arctic Circle. A layer of ice that is roughly 5,000 feet thick covers an area that is 1,380 miles by 680 miles. There is no longer enough snow falling to allow ‘parent glaciers’ to feed it and keep it frozen. This melting zombie ice is still affixed to thicker regions of the ice. In total, 120 trillion tons of ice are predicted to be affected, which means 3.3 percent of the entire Greenland ice sheet can be melted away into the ocean.

The amount of discharged water will be more than the previous projections for the rise in sea level. Following this scenario, the entire continental United States can theoretically be covered by 37 feet of water. While this isn’t actually the expected scenario, it’s still a depressing number.

The current situation is “more like one foot in the grave,” according to the study’s principal author, Jason Box, a glaciologist of the Greenland Survey. This is the first time a minimal ice loss and related sea level rise have been estimated for Greenland. Although the study gave no time frame for the sea level increase, the scientists stated that it might occur “within this century.”

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment from last year, sea levels would rise by two to five inches by 2100 as a result of the Greenland glacier melting. The new 10.6-inch calculation is a forecast based on the global average. It implies that regions farther from Greenland, like the U.S. East Coast, would see greater water inundation than regions closer to the zombie ice.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.