Satellites monitoring the state of the White Continent indicate some 200 billion tonnes a year are now being lost to the ocean as a result of melting.
This is pushing up global sea levels by 0.6mm annually - a three-fold increase since 2012 when the last such assessment was undertaken.
Scientists report the new numbers in the journal Nature.
Governments will need to take account of the information and its accelerating trend as they plan future defences to protect low-lying coastal communities.
The researchers say the losses are occurring predominantly in the West of the continent, where warm waters are getting under and melting the fronts of glaciers that terminate in the ocean.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44470208
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0179-y
See also: Ars Technica, Phys Org and University of Leeds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 14 2018, @08:25PM (2 children)
And the only snow children of the UK will see is that in snow globes. :-(
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 14 2018, @09:14PM (1 child)
That is not true. The warming will weaken the Gulf Stream leaving U.K. with a colder climate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 17 2018, @05:42AM
Oh goody! Windier and with more rain too, I hope!!!