Transcript:
Across Antarctica, Greenland, and other polar areas, icy glaciers cover large areas of land and extend into the sea.
These glaciers shrink and grow with the seasons. Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol in the U.K. says they get smaller during the summer months when some of the ice melts.
Bamber: “And they gain mass in winter, from snowfall primarily. … That’s always been the case.”
But as people burn fossil fuels and add more carbon pollution to the atmosphere, the climate is warming, and over time, many glaciers are shrinking more than they grow.
Bamber: “If you get warmer summers … you get more melt. And so glaciers start to lose mass. The balance between that snowfall in winter and the melting in summer becomes sort of skewed, if you like.”
So year after year, many glaciers are losing ice.
And when glacial ice melts into the ocean, seas rise – causing more frequent and extensive flooding for coastal communities around the world.
Bamber: “Sea level rise is one of the most serious and certain consequences of global heating.”
So though glaciers may be far away, their melting will cause far-reaching harm.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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