Greenland has lost a trillion tons of ice in four years, according to a new paper published by scientists in Geophysical Research Letters.
Tests using the Cryosat-2 satellite revealed that the North Atlantic island loses ice at a rate of about 287 billion tons per year, which is the equivalent of loosing a six mile square cube of ice over four years.
The melted ice has caused the sea level to rise about 2.5 mm over those four years. That rate of sea level rise from Greenland ice melting was twice as rapid as the average rate from 1992-2011.
Discussing the results in Slate Magazine, Phil Plait said: “The evidence that global warming is behind all this is so overwhelming is difficult to overstate. But I’ll note that the likely Republican nominee for President calls global warming a hoax, and his Vice Presidential pick called it a myth.
“I’ll also note that the Democratic likely nominee not only acknowledges the reality of global warming, but also has a plan in place to deal with it. I could wish for something more aggressive from her, but given the infuriatingly sorry state of the GOP attitudes about science and reality, this is a case of taking what you can get.”