Recently, a new finding shows that icebergs near Alaska are melting at a rapid pace. This is worrying many experts.
The Icebergs Are Melting
Climate change is harming a lot of places, but mostly, cold ones. In Alaska it is affecting the icebergs, making the weather hot enough to melt up to 50 thousand gallons per second. This is incredibly harmful and concerning. The speed that this iceberg is melting can cause irreversible damage to the environment sooner than scientists had anticipated.
The reason why this is harmful is because the Alaskan icebergs are one of the biggest icefields on earth. Which means that if a big amount of ice melts, it will make the sea levels rise. This would cause some coastal areas to be submerged underwater.
Courtesy of Erika Cano – AI Generated ImageHumans Are The Issue
The only reason why this is happening right now is because of global warming that has been caused by humans for years. New research shows that the melting rates from the years 2015 to 2019 were five times faster than the melting rates from 1948 to 1979. The estimated ice loss from the year 1770 to 2020 is about one quarter of the original amount.
If this melting continues, it will cause all the ice to melt without a method of recovery. This would be incredibly harmful for both wildlife and for us. While Alaska is currently the one facing the most amount of melting, other big icefield areas such as Canada, Greenland, Norway and other ones could very well suffer the same faith later on.
Unless big corporations dramatically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they release into the world, the ice will continue to melt at a rapid rate. It is very important for people to hold bog corporations accountable, and to also contribute to helping keep our only home healthy.
Written by Erika Cano
Sources:
USA Today: Glacier melt is accelerating in Alaska, study says. Dire news for rising seas?
Smithsonian Magazine: Alaska’s Juneau Icefield Is Melting at an ‘Incredibly Worrying’ 50,000 Gallons per Second, Researchers Find
Nature Communications: Accelerating glacier volume loss on Juneau Icefield driven by hypsometry and melt-accelerating feedbacks
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Erika Cano – AI Generated Image
Inset Image Courtesy of Erika Cano – AI Generated Image
