When the Greenland ice melts ...

Ice in Greenland - a Danish autonomous province, between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean - is melting at a record rate this year, the highest since 1979 when scientists began to follow.

"The amount of melting ice is equivalent to double the entire amount of ice on the European Alps, or the equivalent of a layer of water more than 800 meters deep covering Washington DC of the United States," compared to the University of Colorado scientist Konrad Steffen. compare.

According to Reuters news agency , using data from military satellites and the weather to see the melting ice position, Steffen and his colleagues tracked the ice that is getting thinner and faster. The size of the melting area is 10% wider than that

1/20 of the 'capital' world ice in Greenland (Photo: AP)

record in 2005. Greenland - the largest island in the world with more than 50,000 inhabitants - covers an area of ​​1/4 of the United States and 80% of the area covered by ice. If the Greenland ice sheet melted, the global sea level rose 6.4 meters.

According to scientists at the meeting of the American Geophysical Association in San Francisco, air temperatures on ice layers have increased by about 3.90C since 1991, largely because greenhouse gases have increased more in air. This bad information makes scientists more pessimistic about the situation of the Arctic.

* In another development, Reuters reported that discussions at a climate change summit in Bali (Indonesia) are deadlocked as countries have yet to find a common voice on a detail in the roadmap. Bali (the final statement is expected to arrive at the end of the 14-12 conference). This refers to rich countries that need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25-40% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.

Chief US negotiator Harlan Watson emphasized: "We do not want the numbers" , and said that the ratio of 25-40% is based on many "uncertain" data and a few studies of the Inter-Commission. climate change government (IPCC - just won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize).

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