2 trillion tons of ice gone since 2003

Article published Dec 25, 2008

2 trillion tons of ice gone since 2003

ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming.

More than half of the loss of landlocked ice in the past five years has occurred in Greenland, based on measurements of ice weight by NASA's G.R.A.C.E. satellite, said NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke.

The water melting from Greenland in the past five years would fill up about 11 Chesapeake Bays, he said, and the Greenland melt seems to be accelerating.

Luthcke said Greenland figures for the summer of 2008 aren't complete yet, but this year's ice loss, while still significant, won't be as severe as 2007.

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