"
Other recent studies have shown increasing losses of ice in parts of these
sheets.
"The melting of ice at the edges of the ice sheet is also increasing,
which causes the ice to flow faster," Zwally said . The 20 billion net tons added
to the oceans is equivalent to the amount of fresh water annually used in
homes, businesses and farming in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.gov/vision/earth/environment /ice_sheets. WASHINGTON, Scientists have concluded more energy
is being absorbed from the sun than is emitted back to space, throwing the
Earth's energy "out of balance" and warming the globe . The researchers agree monitoring
ice sheets and sea level is necessary to best ensure the system is in balance.

biosphere atmospheric

This new survey is the first to inventory the losses of ice and the
addition of new snow on both continents in a consistent and comprehensive way
throughout an entire decade. These pollutants block the Earth's heat radiation from escaping to
space, and they increase absorption of sunlight," said Jim Hansen of NASA's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York.1 centimeters or 1.26 inches per decade.
Although 3.

geosphere geochemistry

In Greenland, the survey saw large ice losses along the southeastern coast
and a large increase in ice thickness at higher elevations in the interior due
to relatively high rates of snowfall. "Warmer
waters increase the likelihood of accelerated ice sheet disintegration and sea
level rise during this century," Hansen said.

hazards paleoclimatology

The survey shows there was a net loss of ice from the combined polar ice
sheets between 1992 and 2002 and a corresponding rise in sea level."
The survey was published this week in the Journal of Glaciology
(http://www.
To understand the difference, think of a one-watt light bulb shining over
an area of one square meter (10.nasa.

georef geomatics

For more information about the research and images on
the Web , visit:

http://www. It means there is an
additional global warming of about one degree Fahrenheit that is already in
the pipeline.
For more information and images about this story on the Internet, visit:
http://www.

oceans geosciences

This study suggests there was a slight
gain in the total mass of frozen water in the ice sheet over the decade
studied, contrary to previous assessments.
"The energy imbalance is an expected consequence of increasing atmospheric
pollution, especially carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and black carbon
particles. Even if there were no further increase of human-made gases in
the air, climate would continue to warm that much over the next century.

quaternary imax

There are positive feedbacks that come
into play, as the area of ice melt increases.

Earth science, also known as geoscience, is the study of the physical properties of the land, atmosphere, inland waters and oceans on earth.

oceanography acquiring

These loses, which may
have been going on for decades, outweighed the gains in snow and ice seen in
the East Antarctic ice sheet and parts of West Antarctica.76 square feet ). Eventually the Earth will be back
in balance, if the greenhouse gas emissions are kept at the same level of
today.

imax paleoclimatology

Scientists Confirm Earth's Energy is Out of Balance

The study reveals Earth 's energy imbalance is large by standards of the
planet's history. He is the lead author of the
new study, which is in this week's Science Magazine Science Express.gov/home

equivalent meteorology

"The study indicates that the contribution of the ice sheets to sea-level
rise during the decade studied was much smaller than expected, just two
percent of the recent increase of nearly three millimeters (0. The
lag in the ocean's response has practical consequences.

geophysics biosphere

NASA Survey Confirms Climate Warming Impact on Polar Ice Sheets

Continuing research using NASA
satellites and other data will narrow the uncertainties in this important
issue and help solve the mystery.
As the Earth warms it emits more heat.
Warmer worldwide water temperatures also affect other things.
The research also supports the Vision for Space Exploration, NASA's long-
term plan to return astronauts to the moon and extend exploration to Mars and
beyond.

acquiring soils

12 inches) a
year," Zwally said.85 watts per meter squared. WASHINGTON, NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
Washington awarded the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, a
geospace science program grant with a maximum value of $68,113 .

geosciences quaternary

That study included observations through 2005; Zwally's survey
concluded with 2002 data. The floating ice shelves are vulnerable to climate change.
When the scientists added up the gains and loses of ice from the Greenland
and Antarctic sheets, there was a net loss of ice to the sea.html

1 centimeters is a small change, the rate of increase is twice
as large as in the preceding century .

biosphere quaternary

WASHINGTON, In the most comprehensive survey ever
undertaken of the massive ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica,
NASA scientists confirm climate warming is changing how much water remains
locked in Earth's largest storehouses of ice and snow.
Scientists from NASA, Columbia University, New York, and Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) by
the end of this century.

geophysics georef

"If the trends we're seeing continue and climate warming continues as
predicted, the polar ice sheets could change dramatically," said survey lead
author Jay Zwally of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "A race is going on in
Greenland between these competing forces of snow build-up in the interior and
ice loss on the edges. Also thinning were
the ice shelves around West Antarctica, where temperatures have been
increasing . The Greenland
ice sheet annually gained approximately 11 billion tons of water, while
Antarctica lost about 31 billion tons per year.gov/vision/earth/environment/earth_energy.
NASA solicited proposals for the program to support its goal of
understanding the space that surrounds and is influenced by various solar
system bodies.

quaternary earth

The survey combines new satellite mapping of the height of the ice sheets
from two European Space Agency satellites. The survey pinpointed where the ice sheets
were thinning and where they were growing. But we don't know how long they will be approximately
in balance with each other or if that balance has already tipped in favor of
the recently accelerating outflow from glaciers. That will
cause an additional warming of 0.

geochemistry oceanography

Researchers used nine years of elevation mapping over
much of Antarctica and 10.6 mile) of sea level, if there were that much ice . Scientists know it takes the ocean longer to warm than the land.

geoscience atmospheric

"The
Greenland ice sheet could be facing an irreversible decline by the end of the
century. Last month NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif. Data has shown they have risen by
approximately 3. Supported studies cover regions that begin with Earth's
neutral upper atmosphere, extend outwards through the ionosphere and beyond
the magnetosphere.
The program has three components: the Geospace Supporting Research and
Technology program supports theoretical research, development and exercise of
models and simulations, analysis and interpretation of data to identify and
understand the physical processes important to geospace structure and
dynamics; the Geospace Instrument Development Program supports the development
of instrument technologies that show promise for use in scientific
investigations on future geospace science missions; and the Geospace Low Cost
Access to Space program supports research in geospace science that requires
the space-flight of instrumentation.

meteorology geoscience

The survey
documented for the first time extensive thinning of the West Antarctic ice
shelves, an increase in snowfall in the interior of Greenland and thinning at
the edges.5 years of data over Greenland from the European
Remote-sensing Satellites 1 and 2.nasa.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.

geophysics meteorology

The ice sheets had a major
net loss of ice due to outflow from West Antarctica.org). They confirmed the energy
imbalance by using precise measurements of increasing ocean heat content over
the past 10 years. Although it doesn't seem like
much, adding up the number of feet around the world creates a big effect.

discoveries geochemistry

It also used previous NASA airborne
mapping of the edges of the Greenland ice sheets to determine how fast the
thickness is changing."
The situation was very different in Antarctica. Some
ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula have totally disintegrated in recent
years, allowing the ice from the land to move into the ocean faster. The imbalance is 0.html

geochemistry georef

All are signs of a warming climate predicted by computer models.
According to Zwally, this situation may have changed in just the past few
years . used satellites, data from buoys and
computer models to study the Earth's oceans.

NASA Awards Huntsville Science Grant

nasa.

quaternary meteorology

"Current estimates of the other major sources of sea-level
rise -- expansion of the ocean by warming temperatures and runoff from low-
latitude glaciers -- do not make up the difference, so we have a mystery on
our hands as to where the water is coming from.igsoc. Since 1993 , sea levels have been
measured by satellite altimeters.

soils paleogeography

paleoclimatology imax

, reported a speed up of ice flow into the sea from several Greenland
glaciers. To
put this number into perspective, an imbalance of one -watt per square meter,
maintained for the past 10,000 years is enough to melt ice equivalent to one
kilometer (.