Greenland glaciers dumping ice into Atlantic at faster pace
 Thursday, February 16, 2006; Posted: 2:05 p.m. EST (19:05 GMT)
 
 
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Greenland's southern glaciers have accelerated their march to the Atlantic Ocean over the past decade and now contribute more to the global rise in sea levels than previously estimated, researchers say.

Those faster-moving glaciers, along with increased melting, could account for nearly 17 percent of the estimated one-tenth of an inch annual rise in global sea levels, or twice what was previously believed, said Eric Rignot of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

An increase in surface air temperatures appears to be causing the glaciers to flow faster, albeit at the still-glacial pace of eight miles to nine miles a year at their fastest clip, and dump increased volumes of ice into the Atlantic.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/02/16/greenland.glaciers.ap/index.html

 

Kay