Researchers from the universities of Leeds and Edinburgh as well as University College London analysed satellite surveys of glaciers, mountains, and ice sheets between 1994 and 2017 to discover the extent the warming globe is having on the ice sheets. According to the research published in the journal Cryosphere Discussions, 28 trillion tonnes of ice has melted in the 23 year period.
This could equate to sea level rises by a metre by the end of the century.
Professor Andy Shepherd, director of Leeds University’s Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, told The Guardian: “To put that in context, every centimetre of sea-level rise means about a million people will be displaced from their low-lying homeland.”
The findings also reveal Earth is now on course to fall into the ‘worst case scenario’ predictions of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Prof Shepherd continued: “In the past researchers have studied individual areas – such as the Antarctic or Greenland – where ice is melting.
“But this is the first time anyone has looked at all the ice that is disappearing from the entire planet. What we have found has stunned us.”
Globally, as it stands, sea levels are rising at about 8mm a year due to melting ice and climate change, and while that does not seem like much, the implications for future generations could be huge.
Between 1993 and 2014, sea levels rose by 66mm (2.3 inches) – or roughly 3mm per year.
If it continues at the current rate or gets faster, it could mean coastal cities such as New York could be submerged by the end of the century.
Global warming is contributing to a loss of ice cover in the Arctic and Antarctic circles and researchers believe Greenland could be one of the worst affected.
The ice covering Greenland is up to three kilometres thick in certain places, covering an area seven times the amount of the UK.
If all of this ice were to melt, it would cause sea levels to rise by a staggering seven metres, which could have major implications for the UK.
Climate models have shown a sea-level rise of more than two metres could permanently submerge large parts of the British coastline with the likes of Hull, Peterborough, Portsmouth and parts of East London and the Thames Estuary all under threat.