Ancient ice.Are the world's great ice sheets disappearing? Scientists know the world's seas are without a doubt rising by three millimeters a year, but the latest decade-long study from the U.S. space agency NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. suggests a mix of reasons and effects, typical of any true scientific inquiry. Greenland Greenland, Green. Kalaallit Nunaat, Dan. Grønland, the largest island in the world (2005 est. pop. 56,000), 836,109 sq mi (2,166,086 sq km), self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark, lying largely within the Arctic Circle. , for instance, is absolutely losing ice along its edges, as is the western portion of Antarctica Antarctica (ăntärk`tĭkə, –är`tĭkə), the fifth largest continent, c.5,500,000 sq mi (14,245,000 sq km), asymmetrically centered on the South Pole and almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle. . But snowfall in the interior of Greenland is adding mass to the ice there--the equivalent of 41.64 billion liters a year in newly created ice--while Antarctica's ice shelves are very quickly losing ice, at 117.34 billion liters each year. That means there's a net 75.71 billion liter liter, abbr. l, unit of volume in the metric system, defined since 1964 as equal to 0.001 cubic meters, or 1 cubic decimeter. A cube that has each of its edges equal to 10 centimeters has a volume of 1 liter. The liter is equal to 1.057 liquid quarts, 0. increase in new water, but this doesn't begin to explain our rising oceans. In fact, it accounts for just 2% of the documented annual rise. Where the new water is coming from remains a mystery, and a nevertheless urgent global problem. PHOTO BY HORACIO CORDOBA/REUTERS * CALAFATE/ARGENTINA |
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