What's "up"? Sea level (giant ice melting); July hottest month; Chief calling arms to battle rising crime; Guardian Angels back

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Antarctica's floating ice shelves are thinning at an accelerating rate. Many of Antarctica's ice shelves are huge. The one protruding into the Ross Sea is the size of France. They form where glacier ice running off the continent protrudes across water. At a certain point, the ice lifts off the seabed and floats. Eventually, as these shelves continue to push outwards, their fronts will calve, forming icebergs.
Rate of sea-level rise 'steeper'. The rate at which the global oceans have risen in the past two decades is more significant than previously recognised, say US-based scientists. "…the acceleration into the last two decades is far worse than previously thought," said Dr Carling Hay from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "This new acceleration is about 25% higher than previous estimates," she told BBC News.

FACT: Antarctica And Greenland Are Melting. Study results show that since 1992 Antarctica has lost about 1,320 gigatons of ice and Greenland has lost 2,940 gigatons. This melt has contributed to 11 millimeters of sea level increase. This is only part of the total sea level rise of almost six centimeters since 1995, and are now rising faster than expected. Other sources of rising levels include the melting of other glaciers (like the Himalayas) and the expanding of the ocean as it warms with the rest of the Earth.

They noted that both of the polar ice sheets seem to be melting more rapidly than they thought from previous observations. Greenland is losing five times more mass today than it was in the early 1990's and Antarctica is losing 50 percent more ice.

Melting Antarctica glaciers dropping Mount Everest worth of ice into sea, Scientist says.
The waters surrounding Antarctica have warmed for the last 40 years consecutively, and scientists believe that is due to the warming of the ocean currents that are far below the ocean surface. Studies have found that due to the warming waters below the surface – the ice shelves are melting at a more expedited rate and even account for more than half of the total melting in the region. The scientists pointed out that even just “a half-degree rise in water temperature close to a big ice shelf can melt the ice significantly faster than raising the air temperature.”

July 2015 was Earth's hottest month ever recorded. The first 7 months of 2015 are the hottest January-to-July span on record. U.S. officials say July was Earth's hottest month on record, smashing old marks. July's average temperature was 61.86 degrees Fahrenheit (16.5 Celsius), beating the previous global mark set in 1998 and 2010 by about one-seventh of a degree. That's a large margin for weather records. The first 7 months of 2015 are the hottest January-to-July span on record.

Records go back to 1880, but nine of the 10 hottest months on record have happened since 2005. WASHINGTON - U.S. officials say July 2015 was Earth’s hottest month on record, smashing old marks. July’s average temperature was 16.5 C, beating the previous global mark set in 1998 and 2010 by about 0.07 C. That’s a large margin for weather records. Records go back to 1880, but nine of the 10 hottest months on record have happened since 2005. The first seven months of 2015 are the hottest January-to-July span on record. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist Jake Crouch says it is quite likely that 2015 will end up the hottest year on record, beating last year. Crouch says this reaffirms that the Earth is warming, with a boost this year from an El Nino warming of the Pacific Ocean.

Packing heat in Detroit: Motown residents answer police chief's call to arms - "Chief Craig" effect, Call To Arms Against Crime “When you look at the city of Detroit, we’re kind of leading the way in terms of urban areas with law-abiding citizens carrying guns,” Craig said recently. The chief's call to arms, which first came in December, 2013, has been answered by thousands of men and women tired of being victims and eager to reclaim their beleaguered city. In 2014, some new 1,169 handgun permits were issued, while 8,102 guns were registered with Detroit's police department - many to prior permit holders who bought new firearms. So for in 2015, nearly 500 permits have issued by the department and more than 5,000 guns have been registered.

“Home invasions have gone down,” he said. “A huge reason was that there was a huge spate of homeowners using their guns against intruders. More people have guns and it’s making burglars cautious.”

The firearms instructor said women are driving growth in his business. "It used to be that we would only have one or two women in a class,” he said. “Now we are seeing much, much more. This past May, I held a class where we trained 300 ladies.”

Guardian Angels Back On Patrol After 20 YearsNew York's crime-fighting Guardian Angels volunteers have returned to Central Park for the first time in 20 years amid concern over a rise in crime. The group - known for taking down criminals and for controversy since it was founded in 1979- patrolled the area with torches for hours one night last week, citing a 26% rise in crime in the park this year as their motivation.

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Photo courtesy NASA, Ian Joughin, ABC World News Tonight, NOAA, National Tide Centre Australia, AP / Detroit Free Press, Rick Ector, and Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer