Glacier and Ice Sheet Melt
The melting of ice sheets and glaciers around the world is accelerating and contributing to rising sea levels. Melting in Greenland is particularly dramatic, with the record year of 2012 witnessing surface melt far in excess of any earlier year in the satellite record. For a few days that year, 97 percent of the entire ice sheet indicated surface melting. Antarctica too is vulnerable to global warming and is melting despite being the coldest place on Earth. Melting of the Antarctic ice sheet serves as a valuable climate indicator, as well as a potential source of dangerous sea level rise, and may accelerate if key ice shelves continue to be lost.
Read MoreMay 29, 2020 | CNN
Antarctic ice sheets capable of much faster melting than we thought
Apr 6, 2020 | The New York Times
As Himalayas Warm, Nepal’s Climate Migrants Struggle to Survive
Mar 24, 2020 | Washington Post
Scientists just discovered a massive new vulnerability in the Antarctic ice sheet
Earth Systems Signals
Global warming is causing widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.
Heat Signals
The Earth is getting hotter due to human activities that release heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
Drought Signals
Climate change is making droughts more likely to occur, and more severe when they do.
Wildfires Signals
Climate change is increasing the size, frequency, intensity and seasonality of wildfires.
Hurricanes Signals
Warmer temperatures increase the rate of water evaporation, which feeds moisture and energy into storms.
Floods Signals
Worsening floods due to climate change are putting a growing number of communities at risk.