Greenlandic, Antarctic ice sheets contributing more to sea level rise: study

A study believed to be the most comprehensive ever done of the planet’s ice sheets shows that overall, they are melting faster and faster.

And the paper, published today in the journal Science, shows the loss of ice from Greenland and the Antarctic is making an ever-greater contribution to rising sea levels.

An international team of 47 scientists combined a wide array of data from satellites and other sources to conclude the Greenland ice cap is melting five times faster than it was in the 1990s.

The rate of decline for Antarctica has remained about the same.

Overall, the sheets have lost about 4,250 gigatonnes of ice since 1992, enough to raise the average sea level around the globe by 11 millimetres.

That may not sound like much, but the study authors warn it is enough to make storm surges worse along coastlines.