remote sensing and monitoring of ice

• Greenland and Antarctica are very large and inhospitable, making them expensive to visit.
• Seismic waves can be used to measure the thickness of ice in Greenland and Antarctica.
• In-person data measuring is expensive, slow and has a limited range.
• Ariel surveys from planes use radars, lasers or gravimeters, which are faster, safer and provide more data.
• Satellites use radars, lasers and gravimeters.
• The GRACE satellite stands for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and is a low orbit satellite that takes 15 days to orbit the planet and works in any weather with data in great detail.
• The GRACE satellite is safe but expensive.
• Sea levels are rising because of land ice melting and thermal expansion.
• Thermal expansion is when heating of the ocean means the particles have more kinetic energy so they move faster and expand.
• The warm surface water is moved to deep oceans by currents and it takes 100 years for the cycle.
• Sea level rise means coastal flooding and erosion.
• Damage from coastal flooding and erosion is expensive to repair, defences are expensive and people may relocate to higher ground.
• Sea levels rise and intrude on fresh water aquifers to cities, which means people cannot drink the water.
• Mangroves become flooded and cannot move or adapt to saltier conditions, leading to the loss of habitats and ecosystem services.
• Coral bleaching happens when the ocean becomes too warm for the algae and the polyps on the coral expel them.
• Ocean acidification is when CO2 is dissolved into the ocean to make carbonic acid which dissociates into bicarbonate which is used by phytoplankton.