The melting of Greenland ice sheet is expected to cause an increase in the global sea level by approximately 10 inches, a study has said. This will be caused by "zombie ice" - parts of glaciers that are no longer replenished by new ice - and the estimates are double of what was previously forecast, according to the study released on Monday. The new data has emerged to be a very major concern among climatologists observing the rapid changes being caused by climate change, reported Transcontinental Times.
The outlet also quoted the study's co-author and glaciologist William Colgan as saying that the ice "has been relegated to the ocean". Lead author Jason Box of the Greenland Survey said the scenario is "like one foot in the grave".
According to the study published in journal Nature Climate Change, the rise in sea level may extend up to 30 inches.
This research is in contrast to last year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which predicted a rise of 2 to 5 inches in the sea level due to Greenland ice melt.
For the first time, scientists calculated the lowest Greenland ice loss and the resulting rise in the global sea level in the study. They said that the balance of the ice - melting and replenishment of the glaciers - has been affected due to climate change.
They kept the high-melt year of 2012 to calculate the loss of ice.
After the 1980s, an increase in surface meltwater runoff and ice flow discharge from Greenland's tidewater sectors resulted in the emergence of an ice budget deficit.
"Yet, despite its importance for future sea-level rise (SLR), our capacity to accurately predict Greenland's response to climate change is hampered by process limitations in ice sheet models and their imprecise coupling to land, atmosphere and ocean boundaries," said the study authors.
Greenland is one of the two enormous ice sheets on the planet and is slowly shrinking due to climate change brought on by burning coal, oil and natural gas.
