Antarctic Snow is Not Darkening Due to Pollution - http://clapway.com/2015/11/03/antarctic-snow-is-not-darkening-ice-sheet123/

Studies that fallout due to fossil fuel pollution and forest fires may be causing Greenland’s ice sheet to become darker, which causes solar heat to be absorbed and the surface’s melting to accelerate. A new study by Dartmouth, however, highlights evidence that shows that this dark snow caused by degrading satellite sensors, and that Greenland’s ice sheet isn’t as dark as it looks from above.

Statistics show that Antarctic snow and Greenland’s ice sheet hasn’t become as sooty as thought, since black carbon and dust percentages haven’t had too much of a significant increase. The study, led by Christ Polashenski, takes all factors that could have caused this supposed darkening into account: most of this dark snow is caused by growth in the Antarctic snow particles caused by melting, and the minerals that attach to the snow which absorb sunlight and make it dark snow. By taking snow-pit samples from snowfalls between 2012 and 2014 in Northern Greenland and comparing them to earlier years, the team of researchers at the University of Dartmouth found that there was no significant increase in black carbon or mineral dust. Algae was even ruled out as an attributing factor.

The study instead points to NASA’s MODIS satellites, which haven’t had an upgrade in such time, and a decline in the efficiency of its sensors. The team explains that once the sensors are given new processors, it will show concrete evidence that the region of the ice sheet in question has actually not seen that much damage as opposed to the ice sheet’s edges, and that previous evidence, believed to be fact, will be shot down. This study is one that shows that pollution is so easily connected to events happening all over the globe that could be the Earth changing naturally or it not changing at all.

The results, found in the Journal Geophysical Research Letters, exclude the lower elevation region of the ice sheet, which is indeed plagued with surface melting, growth of algae, soot and dust that make Antarctic snow less reflective.

 

Antarctic Snow is Not Darkening Due to Pollution

Greenland Glacier Sheds Manhattan-Sized Chunk #glacier #Greenland #climatechange - http://clapway.com/2015/08/24/greenland-glacier-manhattan123/

A massive chunk of ice, the size of Manhattan, has been severed from Greenland’s Jakobshavn glacier, BBC News reports.

ONE OF THE FASTEST GLACIERS IN GREENLAND

During the summer, the glacier movies at ten meters a day, according to scientists, a pace which makes it one of the fastest glaciers in Greenland. Using the European Union’s Sentinel satellites, the European Space Agency has been monitoring the glacier and its activity.

According to the European Space Agency, the berg that separated from the glacier has a 12.5 square kilometer area and is about 1,400 meters deep, making its total volume about 17.5 cubic kilometers. Which means that the iceberg has enough ice to cover Manhattan with a 300 meter layer of ice.

LARGEST ICE CHUNK EVER?

Members of the Arctic Sea Ice Forum first observed the ice chunk separating from the Jakobshavn glacier between the days of August 14 and 16. The members have speculated that it may be the largest chunk ever to be removed from a glacier in Greenland.

In an e-mail to the Washington Post, Pennsylvania State University glaciologist Richard Alley cautioned against speculation. “Overall, I don’t think that they really can nail the ‘largest’ [calving event] or not,” the scientist said. “I wouldn’t get too excited on this, even though it is not good news.

WHY DID IT HAPPEN?

It is generally accepted by the scientific community that the reason why glaciers are globally melting at record rates and ice chunks are frequently breaking from glaciers is the rising temperatures caused by climate change. As the Post pointed out, calving (the separation of ice chunks from ice sheets and glaciers and subsequently falling into the sea) isn’t an uncommon phenomenon in this area of Greenland because of increasing sea and air temperatures in the region.

This increase has made the Jakobshavn one of the fastest moving glaciers ever, so “it bleeds ice into the ocean at one of the highest rates of any ice sheet on Earth” according to the Post. Research from 2012 found that the glacier pours out 150 feet of ice per day. This rate is three times as fast as the way that it poured in the 1990s.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS

Though it may be bad news, you can check out a great view of the glacier captured by NASA here.

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It’s sad to see nature go. Preserve it in your living room forever with the Atmoph:

Greenland Glacier Sheds Manhattan-Sized Chunk