Global sea ice in ‘constant retreat’

LONDON
Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:38pm EDT (Reuters) – The world’s floating ice is in “constant retreat,” showing an instability which will increase global sea levels, according to a report published in Geophysical Research Letters on Wednesday. Floating ice had disappeared at a steady rate over the past 10 years, according to the first measurement of its kind. “It’s a large number,” said Professor Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, lead author of the paper, estimating the net loss of floating sea ice and ice shelves in the last decade at 7,420 cubic kilometers. That is greater than the loss of ice over land from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets over the same time period, highlighting the impact of warming oceans on floating ice. Ice melt ebbs and flows from winter to summer. The report’s calculations referred to the net loss over the past decade. “There’s a constant rate of retreat (annually),” said Shepherd. “It’s a rapid process and there’s no reason why it won’t increase over the next century.” …

Global floating ice in ‘constant retreat’: study