Glaciers Melting Slower Than Thought

February 14, 2012 14:27


The substantial overestimation of glacial ice loss in previous reports serves as a reminder that surface temperature measurements reported from various locations and then extrapolated on a worldwide basis conflict with uniform global temperature readings measured by instruments on NASA satellites.

 

By James M. Taylor at Heartland Institute

 

New satellite data show glacial ice is melting more slowly than previously thought. Scientists at the University of Colorado examined data from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites and report 30 percent less glacial ice is melting per year than scientists previously believed.

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, known by its acronym GRACE, measures gravity in distinct regions around the Earth. The gravity measurements allow scientists to calculate mass, which in turn tells scientists how much snow and ice exist in certain places. By comparing gravity measurements on a year-to-year basis, scientists can measure changes in snow and ice mass.

Prior to utilizing GRACE data, scientists collected snow and ice data at various locations and then extrapolated the data on a worldwide basis. As it turns out, the data collection points had been skewed to show more melting than was actually occurring.

The substantial overestimation of glacial ice loss in previous reports serves as a reminder that surface temperature measurements reported from various locations and then extrapolated on a worldwide basis conflict with uniform global temperature readings measured by instruments on NASA satellites. Much like the GRACE satellite data show scientists have been overestimating global ice loss, NASA satellite data show prominent alarmists James Hansen, Phil Jones, and other overseers of surface temperature data sets are overestimating recent global warming.

Despite the good news that glaciers are melting more slowly than previously thought, the University of Colorado press release is interestingly titled, “CU-Boulder study shows global glaciers, ice caps shedding billions of tons of mass annually” and the press release itself does not mention that the satellite-measured glacial ice loss is much less than previously thought.

SOURCES: University of Colorado and U.S. News and World Report

 

James M. Taylor is managing editor of Environment & Climate News, a national monthly… (read full bio)

 



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