BBC News – Greenland ice loss doubles from late 2000s

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28852980
20 August 2014 Last updated at 10:01 ET
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

The team has produced elevation models for the ice sheets
Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Antarctica’s ice losses double
• ‘Nothing can stop glaciers’ retreat’
• Long fjords point to higher seas

A new assessment from Europe’s CryoSat spacecraft shows Greenland to be losing about 375 cu km of ice each year.

Added to the discharges coming from Antarctica, it means Earth’s two big ice sheets are now dumping roughly 500 cu km of ice in the oceans annually.

“The contribution of both ice sheets together to sea level rise has doubled since 2009,” said Angelika Humbert from Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute.

“To us, that’s an incredible number,” she told BBC News.

In its report to The Cryosphere journal, the AWI team does not actually calculate a sea-level rise equivalent number, but if this volume is considered to be all ice (a small part will be snow) then the contribution is likely to be on the order of just over a millimetre per year.

This is the latest study to use the precision altimetry data being gathered by the European Space Agency’s CryoSat platform.

Cryosat uses a radar instrument to measure the shape of polar ice surfaces

The satellite was launched in 2010 with a sophisticated radar instrument specifically designed to measure the shape of the polar ice sheets.

The AWI group, led by senior researcher Veit Helm, has taken just over two years’ worth of data centred on 2012/2013 to build what are called digital elevation models (DEMs) of Greenland and Antarctica, and to asses their evolution.

These models incorporate a total of 14 million individual height measurements for Greenland and another 200 million for Antarctica.

When compared with similar data-sets assembled by the US space agency’s IceSat mission between 2003 and 2009, the scientists are able then to calculate changes in ice volume beyond just the CryoSat snapshot.

Negative shifts are the result of surface melting and ice discharge; positive trends are the consequence of precipitation – snowfall.

…(read more).

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Bank of America Reaches Record $17B Settlement

Associated Press

Published on Aug 20, 2014

Bank of America has reached a record $17 billion settlement to resolve an investigation into its role in the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis, officials directly familiar with the matter said Wednesday. (Aug. 20)

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

The Price of NAACP Compromise was Too High – Gerald Horne on Reality Asserts Itself

TheRealNews

Published on Aug 20, 2014

Mr. Horne, author of The Counter-Revolution of 1776, says it was a turning point in the history of black America when the NAACP succumbed to the pressures of the Cold War – the affects of which are still felt today

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Behind the mysterious holes in Siberia

PBS NewsHour

Published on Aug 20, 2014

When holes opened up in the earth recently in Siberia, a wave of speculation was set off as to their cause. Scientists are now pinpointing a dramatic increase in arctic thawing, which may have released methane once trapped below the frozen ground. For a better understanding, Judy Woodruff talks to Tom Wagner of NASA

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

People’s Climate March – NYC March

This is an invitation to change everything.

In September, world leaders are coming to New York City for a UN summit on the climate crisis. UN Secretary­ General Ban Ki-­moon is urging governments to support an ambitious global agreement to dramatically reduce global warming pollution.

With our future on the line and the whole world watching, we’ll take a stand to bend the course of history. We’ll take to the streets to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.

To change everything, we need everyone on board.
Sunday, September 21 in New York City. Join us.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Monsanto’s history marred by scandal

RT America

Published on Jun 27, 2012

The Monsanto corporation makes their money by producing man-made crops, but the company behind some controversial GMOs isn’t spared from scandals. RT’s Abby Martin discusses with Liz Wahl Monsanto’s sordid past and their often untold history with America’s agriculture business.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Monsanto’s seedy legacy

RT America

Published on Jun 26, 2012

Agricultural giant Monsanto is best known for their production of pesticides and genetically modified foods, but they have a controversial history as a chemical company with a slew of toxic cover ups. In addition to their battle against small farmers, the
newest buzz about the corporation is the speculation that their GM seeds are linked to the die off of bees. Abby Martin of RT brings us more on their seedy practices and what they are up to now.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Monsanto’s Commitment to Sustainability

Monsanto Company

Published on Aug 20, 2014

Monsanto Chief Operating Officer Brett Begemann discusses the need to make agriculture sustainable.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Noam Chomksy (2014) “On Western Terrorism — From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare”

Noam Chomsky Videos

Published on Aug 20, 2014

April 7, 2014

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Microbial Life Discovered Beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet

National Science Foundation

Published on Aug 20, 2014

Researchers with the NSF/ARRA-funded WISSARD project report that hidden beneath a half-mile of ice in Antarctica is an unexplored part of our biosphere.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice