BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say small glaciers and ice caps -- not melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets -- are causing the Earth's rising sea levels.
Despite growing public alarm over the shrinking Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, small glaciers and icecaps are estimated to be shedding 400 billion tons of ice -- nearly equal to the volume of Lake Erie -- compared with the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which, combined, are estimated to be contributing about 250 billion tons annually, said Professor Tad Pfeffer of the University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
"The message from our study is that small glaciers and ice caps are the biggest sources of water in global sea rise, which runs contrary to many news reports focusing on Antarctica and Greenland," said Pfeffer. "We feel that ignoring the contributions of small glaciers and icecaps is dangerous because it affects the accuracy of predictions of sea rise around the world."
Pfeffer presented the study in San Francisco this week, during the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
