Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Greenland ice in rapid meltdown
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) June 28, 2011
Greenland's ice sheet melted the most it has in over a half
century last year, US government scientists said Tuesday in one of
a series of "unmistakable" signs of climate change.
"The world continues to warm," the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration said in a briefing paper for reporters.
"Multiple indicators, same bottom-line conclusion: consistent and
unmistakable signal from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom
of the oceans."
An annual climate survey, which includes work by scientists from
45 countries, said that ice sheet in Greenland melted at its
highest rate since at least 1958, when similar data first became
available.
Arctic sea ice shrank to its third smallest area on record, while
the world's alpine glaciers shrank for the 20th straight year, the
study said.
In line with previous studies, the survey said that 2010 was also
one of the hottest years on record.
Last year was either tied for the hottest or the second hottest on
record, depending on methodology. But all methodologies used
showed the temperature to be at least 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5
Celsius) above the average recorded in the three decades through
1990.
The survey noted that 2010 was exceptional for its extreme events,
including a deadly heat wave in Russia, floods in Pakistan that
displaced more than 20 million people and record snowfall in
several US cities.
A series of studies have voiced alarm at the rapid pace of melting
in the Arctic Ocean, which could lead to a rise in sea levels that
threatens low-lying coastal areas and islands.
The Oslo-based Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program said in
May that warming in the Arctic was on track to lift sea levels by
up to 5.3 feet (1.6 meters) by 2100, a far steeper jump than
predicted a few years ago.
Many environmentalists have been disappointed at the pace of
diplomacy to fight climate change, with few expecting a major
agreement at the next major UN-led talks opening in South Africa
in late November.
Former US vice president Al Gore recently accused President Barack
Obama of failing to show leadership on climate change, saying that
poor coverage of the media had given credibility to skeptics of
global warming.