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Did anyone see Waterworld?
15:16 p.m. EST Apr 7, 2004
Good news for aquaphiles, bad news for Florida. A study from the University of Reading concludes that by the year 2350 the average temperature of the Greenland ice cap will have risen by 8 degrees centigrade. It would take only 3 degrees to melt the entire ice cap, thus causing ocean levels to rise by roughly 25 feet.
Greenland has the world's second largest ice cap, a remnant of the last ice age. It is 3000 meters high and contains 2.85 million cubic kilometers of ice.
Indeed, NASA scientist Bill Krabill estimates that Greenland may already be losing ice at the rate of about 50 cubic kilometers a year. "It's quite possible that Greenland is already making a slight contribution to global sea levels," noted Jonathan Gregory, the author of the latest study.
The report states that it would probably take over 1000 years for the entire ice cap to melt, yet in less than 50 years a threshold will be passed and there will be no turning back.
So strap on your skis and head out to Greenland right after you sell that beachfront property in Boca Raton, because next time you go out it might be by boat.
Image of Greenland's thinning ice cap courtesy of NASA.
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