NASA Explains How Do Glaciers Melt

Space.com

Learn how glaciers melt and contribute to seas rising in this animated explainer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Transcript

00:00The sheet of ice that covers Greenland contains enough frozen water to raise oceans by 25 feet across the globe.

00:07As the planet warms, glaciers melt, causing sea levels to rise.

00:12But not all of that melt happens at the surface.

00:16In the summertime, rivers and pools of meltwater find their way down through the glacier to the bed below.

00:23From there, the water runs beneath the glacier until it reaches the ocean.

00:27Because meltwater contains no salt, it weighs less than ocean water and rises up the front of the glacier in what scientists call a plume.

00:36Around Greenland, oceans are cold and fresh near the surface and warm and salty at depth.

00:42As the plume rises, it draws in the warm, salty water melting the glacier face from the bottom up.

00:50Eventually, a piece of the glacier breaks off, making an iceberg, in a process known as calving.

00:58As the oceans warm, calving speeds up, causing glaciers to retreat and flow faster.

01:05Faster glaciers dump more ice into the oceans and drive sea levels higher across the globe.

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