Global warming is accelerating as the polar ice caps have been melting faster over the past 20 years due to higher temperatures. Investors who want to contribute less of a carbon footprint can do their part to invest in the ELEMENTS Credit Suisse Global Warming ETN (NYSEArca: GWO) which tracks companies dedicated to staving off further acceleration of global warming through action and research.
“A study was published in the journal Science and is considered an extremely accurate portrayal of ice melts in these polar regions. According to the paper’s authors, the rapid polar ice melting has caused an increase in sea level that may become problematic to low coastal regions,” Jessica Lear for Science Reporter wrote. [ETF Spotlight: Global Warming]
Higher temperatures contribute to the rising sea level in various ways; Runoff from melting glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica and the expansion of warming sea water, reports Gautam Naik for The WSJ. In the 1990s about 10% of the rising sea level was linked to melting ice caps, but recent data show this number has grown to 30%.
The largest threat to rising sea levels has to do with Greenland, as Antarctica is simply too cold to melt permanent ice rapidly. The air temperature is warmer in Greenland and there is evidence of more permanent ice melting on this continent. Plus, scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, suggest that Antarctica is suspected to be growing. Definite answers to the why and how of this are necessary to determine how the ice sheets are changing.
An investment in a note such as GWO can help scientists and researchers determine answers to questions such as the aforementioned. The climate science community is aiming to give forward predictions of sea-level rising in the future, reports Jessica Lear of Science Recorder.