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Ice from Greenland will raise global sea levels by at least 27 centimeters, the Associated Press reported, citing a new study.

The so-called

zombie ice is that which is still attached to thicker sections but is no longer fed by the main glaciers, which receive less snow.

It is melting because of climate change, explains William Colgan of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, co-author of the study.

"It's dead ice. It's just going to melt and disappear from the ice sheet," the expert explained in an interview.

"That ice goes into the ocean regardless of the climate scenario we accept now." 

Lead study author Jason Box says it's "more like having one foot in the grave".

The imminent 27 centimeters in the study is more than twice the sea level rise researchers expected from melting Greenland's ice sheet.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, warns that sea levels could rise as much as 78 centimeters. 

In contrast, in its report last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected a range of 6 to 13 centimeters of likely sea level rise from melting Greenland ice by 2100.

According to one of the authors of the new study, more than 120 trillion tons of ice is doomed to turn into water. 

Switzerland's glaciers have shrunk by half in nearly a century

For the first time, scientists estimate minimal ice loss and accompanying sea level rise for Greenland, one of two massive ice sheets on Earth affected by climate change.

The experts used a technique to calculate the minimum ice loss, also applied to mountain glaciers, for the entire frozen island.

However, scientists cannot predict the time it will take for Greenland's ice to melt.             

Co-author William Colgan says the team doesn't know how long it will take for all of the doomed ice to melt, but makes an educated guess that it's likely to happen by the end of this century, or at least by 2150, the Associated Press notes.

Greenland

melting glaciers