Rignot Eric, Rivera Andrés, Casassa Gino
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, MS 300-227, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA.
Science. 2003 Oct 17;302(5644):434-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1087393.
Digital elevation models of the Northern and Southern Patagonia Icefields of South America generated from the 2000 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission were compared with earlier cartography to estimate the volume change of the largest 63 glaciers. During the period 1968/1975-2000, these glaciers lost ice at a rate equivalent to a sea level rise of 0.042 +/- 0.002 millimeters per year. In the more recent years 1995-2000, average ice thinning rates have more than doubled to an equivalent sea level rise of 0.105 +/- 0.011 millimeters per year. The glaciers are thinning more quickly than can be explained by warmer air temperatures and decreased precipitation, and their contribution to sea level per unit area is larger than that of Alaska glaciers.
利用2000年航天飞机雷达地形测绘任务生成的南美洲巴塔哥尼亚北部和南部冰原的数字高程模型，与早期地图进行比较，以估算63条最大冰川的体积变化。在1968/1975年至2000年期间，这些冰川以相当于每年海平面上升0.042±0.002毫米的速度失去冰量。在最近的1995年至2000年期间，平均冰体变薄速度增加了一倍多，相当于每年海平面上升0.105±0.011毫米。冰川变薄的速度比气温升高和降水量减少所能解释的速度要快，而且其单位面积对海平面的贡献比阿拉斯加冰川的贡献更大。
