EARTH HAS LOST 11.3 TRILLION TONS OF GLACIER ICE IN HALF A CENTURY

LONDON, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ - The Earth has lost around 11.3 trillion tons of glacier ice from Greenland and Antarctica since 1979, according to a new report by US and UK scientists.

Scientists say that global warming is accelerating the melting of the planet's two major ice sheets, with five-sixths of the ice loss caused not by warmer air but by warmer waters eroding the ice sheets from below and along their sides as glaciers flow into the oceans.

The study is based on satellite imagery, and its findings were published in the journal Scientific Data.

Experts warn that this is bad news for future sea-level rise.

"The ice sheets are melting rapidly. We are melting the polar regions, sea levels are rising worldwide, and this will increase the vulnerability of coastal regions," said study co-author Eric Rignot.

The report states that all the melted ice has turned into nearly 11.3 quadrillion litres of water, raising global sea levels by around three centimetres since 1979, in addition to other climate factors contributing to rising ocean levels.

The study's lead author, Ines Otosaka, an ice specialist at Northumbria University in England, said that for every centimetre of sea-level rise, an additional two to three million people are flooded at least once a year.