Gravity map of Earth reveals scary fact about Greenland and sea level rise

Situation in Greenland is even worse than estimated.

New models of Earth's gravity reveal that the melting of Greenland's ice sheet is more significant than previously estimated. The ice sheet is melting faster and impacting sea level rise harder than previously estimated.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - A gravity map of the Earth reveals Greenland's ice sheet is melting and causing sea level to rise at various rates around the globe. Most surprisingly, melting in Greenland is causing the sea level to rise most rapidly in the Southern Hemisphere.

Gravity is inconsistent across the face of the globe. Some places have a little more and others a little less than average. This variance is caused by the quantity of mass in a given spot. As water freezes forming an ice sheet, mass accumulates in a particular area, which in turn increases gravity. As ice melts, gravity diminishes.

The impact of this is that it repels water from the place where it is melting into the ocean.

Studying tidal gauges, scientists realized that sea level rise was inconsistent around the globe with some places experiencing more rise than others. The greatest rises were seen in areas far away from Greenland such as in the South Atlantic and Indian oceans.

A gravity map of the Earth explains the apparent paradox.

As ice melts on Greenland, the relative gravity of the region diminishes. This pushes water away from the area and into others. Alternatively, we can say that water has been pulled to regions with greater gravity.

The gravity map explains why some places have experienced more water accumulation than others. 25;;08 *1 083*6-5

The research also suggests that Greenland has lost even more mass than previously estimated. Perhaps as much as 7 percent more.

This new data solves  a problem with the existing numbers and provides a more accurate understanding of what is happening to the planet.

Scientists almost unanimously agree that the planet is being warmed by CO2 emissions released by human activity. The rate of warming is much faster than at any point in the planet's history. As a result, evolution cannot keep up with the rapid pace of change which is occurring on a timescale of decades. Natural selection usually requires thousands of years. This discrepancy is resulting in the mass extinction of millions of species.

Scientists say humans are beginning to experience the impacts of global warming, and that soon these impacts will be beyond our ability to mitigate them.

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