The article “Remote European Ice Now Racing Into the Sea” by Becky Oskin discusses a serious environmental problem: the melting of the ice caps. Oskin describes an ice cap found near Norway; the ice cap is not nearly as large as the ice caps in Greenland. The article does explain that the ice cap is still larger than most ice caps. However, since it has melted to a significant degree, it no longer has the weight and mass that it once did. As a result, it is able to move at a much quicker pace than it did in previous years. It is now able to move twenty-five times as fast as it did twenty years ago. The current size of the ice cap is approximately 600 cubic miles, a significant amount of ice.
Satellite images indicate that the ice cap is moving at a much greater rate than it did in 1995. Furthermore, the ice cap juts out into the sea, making it easier for the ice cap to move in the direction of the sea. The area where the ice sticks into the sea also makes it easier for the ice cap to melt. This research was recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The authors of the study include Andrew Sheppard, a professor at the University of Leeds.
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Professor Sheppard cautions that this is not the only ice cap that is melting and moving at a significant pace. While climate change is considered to be a possible cause, the air temperature in the region is stable. Rather, they believe that warming ocean currents may be the cause of the melting and movement. The authors are not sure at this time if this is the problem though. They are going to continue their research and use scientific models in an effort to determine the cause of the movement of the ice caps.
- Oskin, Becky. “Remote European Ice Now Racing Into the Sea”. 27 January 2015. 30 January 2015.
