What does NASA hope to accomplish with OMG?
The research program will begin with a fishing boat that maps the seafloor around Greenland.
As scientists understand more about ice-sheet loss, they hope to predict the “extent and timing” of sea level rise, according to NASA.
Ice sheets, glaciers, ice caps…aren’t they all contributing to sea level rise?
“Ice sheets are contributing to sea level rise sooner and more significantly than anticipated,” explained Eric Rignot, glaciologist at the University of California, Irvine, and a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, during the press conference. “We know with future warming, ice sheets will dominate sea level rise because they will have a much larger volume of ice than glaciers and ice caps.”Why is this research important?
“I think one of the main takeaways is that people need to be prepared for sea level rise,” Willis said. “We’re going to continue to have sea level rise for decades and probably centuries. It’s not going to stop. ... If you live on a coastline or if you have economic dependence on a coastline, we have to be prepared for rising seas. It’s not a question of how much but when.”
Related:
Study: Heat waves sparked by climate change
NASA in Brief: Climate still warming, study finds
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