Recent contributions of glaciers and ice caps to sea level rise

Permanent Link:: http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI15061919/00001

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: Climate change ( lcsh )
Sea level rise ( lcsh )
Ice caps ( lcsh )
Glaciers ( lcsh )

Abstract:: Glaciers and ice caps (GICs) are important contributors to presentday global mean sea level rise. Most previous global mass balance estimates for GICs rely on extrapolation of sparse mass balance measurements representing only a small fraction of the GIC area, leaving their overall contribution to sea level rise unclear. Here we show that GICs, excluding the Greenland and Antarctic peripheral GICs, lost mass at a rate of 148630 Gt yr21 from January 2003 to December 2010, contributing 0.4160.08mmyr21 to sea level rise. Our results are based on a global, simultaneous inversion of monthly GRACE-derived satellite gravity fields, from which we calculate the mass change over all ice-covered regions greater in area than 100km2. The GIC rate for 2003–2010 is about 30 per cent smaller than the previous mass balance estimate that most closely matches our study period. The high mountains of Asia, in particular, show a mass loss of only 4620 Gt yr21 for 2003–2010, compared with 47–55 Gt yr21 in previously published estimates. For completeness, we also estimate that the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, including their peripheral GICs, contributed 1.0660.19mmyr21 to sea level rise over the same time period. The total contribution to sea level rise from all ice-covered regions is thus 1.4860.26mmyr21, which agrees well with independent estimates of sea level rise originating from land ice loss and other terrestrial sources. ( English )

Source Institution:: Florida International University
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