Browsing: Ice Sheet

An Ice Sheet is a massive, continuous layer of ice that covers a vast area of land, often spanning over 50,000 square kilometers. There are only two major ice sheets on Earth today: the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Greenland Ice Sheet. These ice sheets are formed from accumulated snowfall that compresses into solid ice over millennia. Ice sheets play a critical role in Earth’s climate system, reflecting sunlight and regulating global temperatures. They also store vast amounts of freshwater, and their melting due to climate change poses a significant risk to global sea levels. Understanding ice sheet dynamics is crucial for predicting future sea-level rise and its impact on coastal regions worldwide.