Climate Trivia: Ice Melt and H-Bombs
Since at least 1960, more of Earth’s land glaciers have been shrinking than growing. As these glaciers shrink, they absorb heat from the atmosphere. To release the amount of energy that the glaciers have absorbed over the last 50 years, how many one-megaton hydrogen bombs would you need to detonate?
a) 200
b) 1000
c) 50,000
d) 200,000
e) 2,000,000
The correct answer is e. Two million hydrogen bombs worth of energy has melted ice that used to sit on our land surfaces. Today, that ice is in the oceans in liquid form.
Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
Source: Levitus, et al. “Anthropogenic Warming of Earth’s Climate System.” Science 292 (2001): 267-270.
