On Saturday, researchers at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) and Georgia Tech have developed a methodology that explains the answer to why coastal glaciers are retreating and how much of it is connected with human-caused climate change.
Attributing the human role to coastal glaciers, which melt into the sea can cover the ways to better predictions about the rise in sea level.
Scientists have tested the approach only in computer models by using simplified glaciers. They discovered that even modest global warming had become responsible for most glaciers to melt or retreating.
The next step, the researchers said is for scientists to simulate the coastal glaciers of a real ice sheet, like Greenland’s, that can hold enough ice to raise sea level by about 22 feet (7 meters).
This will reveal whether they are retreating because of climate change and help predict when major ice loss might next occur.
According to LatestLY, John Christian, who is a post-doctoral researcher at both the University of Texas at Austin and Georgia Tech said,” The methodology we’re proposing is a road map towards making confident statements about what the human role is (in glacier retreats). Those statements can then be communicated to the public and policy makers, and help in their decision-making.”
