U.S. Water News Online
RESTON, Va. -- Greenland's inland glacier ice, the
largest
remnant of the last Ice Age in North America, is a natural
"ice box" that not only affects local climates but provides
long-term storage for a large percentage of the world's
fresh water, according to the latest chapter of the U.S.
Geological Survey's "Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of
the World." The series compares up-to-date field information
and historical data with Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS)
images to determine changes in the Earth's glaciers.
"The present-day volume of glacier ice on Earth, if totally
melted, represents about 80 meters of sea-level rise," said
Richard S. Williams, Jr., senior editor of the atlas series.
The global baseline study, said Williams, "is necessary to
assess worldwide changes in glaciers and potential
accompanying changes in sea level over the next few
decades."
Background information on the "Satellite Image Atlas of
Glaciers of the World" is available on the World Wide Web at
gochange.er.usgs.gov/pub/info/facts/atlas/index
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