Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise
Ice sheet mass balance estimates have improved substantially in recent years using a variety of techniques, over different time periods, and at various levels of spatial detail. Considerable disparity remains between these estimates due to the inherent uncertainties of each method, the lack of detai...
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ftcdlib:qt3gs3b4dn 2023-05-15T13:52:22+02:00 Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise Rignot, E. Velicogna, I. van den Broeke, M. R Monaghan, A. Lenaerts, J. T. M n/a - n/a 2011-03-16 application/pdf http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gs3b4dn english eng eScholarship, University of California qt3gs3b4dn http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gs3b4dn Attribution (CC BY): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rignot, E.; Velicogna, I.; van den Broeke, M. R; Monaghan, A.; & Lenaerts, J. T. M. (2011). Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(5), n/a - n/a. doi:10.1029/2011GL046583. UC Irvine: Department of Earth System Science, UCI. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gs3b4dn Physical Sciences and Mathematics mass-loss Jakobshavn Isbrae glaciers velocity snowfall retreat balance article 2011 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL046583 2016-04-02T18:55:03Z Ice sheet mass balance estimates have improved substantially in recent years using a variety of techniques, over different time periods, and at various levels of spatial detail. Considerable disparity remains between these estimates due to the inherent uncertainties of each method, the lack of detailed comparison between independent estimates, and the effect of temporal modulations in ice sheet surface mass balance. Here, we present a consistent record of mass balance for the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets over the past two decades, validated by the comparison of two independent techniques over the last 8 years: one differencing perimeter loss from net accumulation, and one using a dense time series of time-variable gravity. We find excellent agreement between the two techniques for absolute mass loss and acceleration of mass loss. In 2006, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets experienced a combined mass loss of 475 ± 158 Gt/yr, equivalent to 1.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr sea level rise. Notably, the acceleration in ice sheet loss over the last 18 years was 21.9 ± 1 Gt/yr2 for Greenland and 14.5 ± 2 Gt/yr2 for Antarctica, for a combined total of 36.3 ± 2 Gt/yr2. This acceleration is 3 times larger than for mountain glaciers and ice caps (12 ± 6 Gt/yr2). If this trend continues, ice sheets will be the dominant contributor to sea level rise in the 21st century. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland Ice Sheet Jakobshavn University of California: eScholarship Antarctic Greenland Geophysical Research Letters 38 5 n/a n/a |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics mass-loss Jakobshavn Isbrae glaciers velocity snowfall retreat balance |
spellingShingle |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics mass-loss Jakobshavn Isbrae glaciers velocity snowfall retreat balance Rignot, E. Velicogna, I. van den Broeke, M. R Monaghan, A. Lenaerts, J. T. M Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
topic_facet |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics mass-loss Jakobshavn Isbrae glaciers velocity snowfall retreat balance |
description |
Ice sheet mass balance estimates have improved substantially in recent years using a variety of techniques, over different time periods, and at various levels of spatial detail. Considerable disparity remains between these estimates due to the inherent uncertainties of each method, the lack of detailed comparison between independent estimates, and the effect of temporal modulations in ice sheet surface mass balance. Here, we present a consistent record of mass balance for the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets over the past two decades, validated by the comparison of two independent techniques over the last 8 years: one differencing perimeter loss from net accumulation, and one using a dense time series of time-variable gravity. We find excellent agreement between the two techniques for absolute mass loss and acceleration of mass loss. In 2006, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets experienced a combined mass loss of 475 ± 158 Gt/yr, equivalent to 1.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr sea level rise. Notably, the acceleration in ice sheet loss over the last 18 years was 21.9 ± 1 Gt/yr2 for Greenland and 14.5 ± 2 Gt/yr2 for Antarctica, for a combined total of 36.3 ± 2 Gt/yr2. This acceleration is 3 times larger than for mountain glaciers and ice caps (12 ± 6 Gt/yr2). If this trend continues, ice sheets will be the dominant contributor to sea level rise in the 21st century. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rignot, E. Velicogna, I. van den Broeke, M. R Monaghan, A. Lenaerts, J. T. M |
author_facet |
Rignot, E. Velicogna, I. van den Broeke, M. R Monaghan, A. Lenaerts, J. T. M |
author_sort |
Rignot, E. |
title |
Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
title_short |
Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
title_full |
Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
title_fullStr |
Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
title_sort |
acceleration of the contribution of the greenland and antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gs3b4dn |
op_coverage |
n/a - n/a |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland Ice Sheet Jakobshavn |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland Ice Sheet Jakobshavn |
op_source |
Rignot, E.; Velicogna, I.; van den Broeke, M. R; Monaghan, A.; & Lenaerts, J. T. M. (2011). Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(5), n/a - n/a. doi:10.1029/2011GL046583. UC Irvine: Department of Earth System Science, UCI. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gs3b4dn |
op_relation |
qt3gs3b4dn http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gs3b4dn |
op_rights |
Attribution (CC BY): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL046583 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
n/a |
op_container_end_page |
n/a |
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1766256651338252288 |