These+are+the+melting+glaciers+that+might+someday+drown+your+city,+according+to+NASA

These are the melting glaciers that might someday drown your city, according to NASA. The Washington Post, November 15th, 2017

Summary This article by the Washington ton Post mainly discusses the different affects that different locations of glacier/ice melting will have on varied locations across the globe, specifically New York City. As ocean levels rise, water levels will increase unevenly, as there will be gravitational effects on the crust and the rotation of the earth. This is shown by recent models and research conducted by  Eric Larour, Erik Ivins and Surendra Adhikari of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Different cities, such as one in North America and one in Australia, might actually be in danger of different melting glaciers. New York City, for example, will be affected the most by melting glaciers in the northern part of Greenland, as shown by modern sea level rise models. The three most threatening glaciers in northern greenland are Jakobshavn glacier on Greenland’s central western coast, Petermann glacier in its far northwest and Zachariae glacier in the far northeast. The melting of Petermann glacier would cause 3.23 inches of average sea level rise. The northeast ice stream would cause 4.17 inches of sea level rise, and Jakobshavn glacier would cause 1.73 inches. New York would experience two inches of sea level rise from Petermann, and 2.83 inches from the Northeast ice stream. But New York does not ge tthe full effect of the melting of Greenland's ice caps. New Your City is located far too close to the melting ice cap for it to experience a major difference. "The research represents a new departure in the science of sea level “fingerprinting,”" said Riccardo Riva, a researcher who studies sea level at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. These new sea level rise models and projections will help predict the severity of the situation in any place in the near future. These examples show that the extent of human caused global warming is now putting at risk of the laws of nature.

Relation to Class This article relates to what we are covering in class by showing a direct mechanism that is caused by human alterations on the environment. From this article, I learned that some of the glaciers present in Greenland are projected to melt, and will cause a noticeable increase in global sea levels. This is directly correlated with the the mentioning of global warming in our textbook. According to current climate models, global sea levels are projected to rise by 15-95 centimeters (6-37 inches) between 1990 and 2100, with a best estimate of 48 centimeters (19 inches). This may seem like a trivial gain, but most of the world's major cities are located close to sea level. (Miller 512)

My Opinion With the current benefits of the research and models created by NASA's team, I strongly support the continued research of how different locations of ice melting will alternatively affect different locations across the globe. With sea levels already rising, it is important to know which ice locations will melt first, and which coasts will be affected the most. Furthermore, it is important to raise awareness for global warming, and the effects it is already causing across the globe.

Law Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007- This was a bill to amend the Clean Air Act, and set standards for use of low-carbon emission energy sources to reduce the effects of artificial climate change

Images [|The Washington Post]

[|The Washington Post]

Eric C. Wang 3B