Greenland's ice cap continues to melt due to higher temperatures. The full melting of Greenland's ice sheet could increase sea levels by about 20 feet, or six meters, US researchers working in Greenland say as cited by The New York Times.

One of the main objectives of a group of six scientists is to collect information on the rate at which the melting of Greenland ice sheet will drive up sea levels in the coming decades.

Laurence C. Smith, head of the geography department at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the leader of the team that worked in Greenland this summer, said it's impossible to predict climate changes only by using computer climate models. This is why scientists collect snow, ice and water samples, use helicopters and aerial drones to photograph supraglacial streams and rivers, giant holes in the ice, called moulins, into which rivers flow, and measure air, surface, water and ice temperatures round the clock. They also used waterproof computers, GPS and sonar depth technology to beam back information about the river's elevation, speed and depth.

The scientists will use data on the rate of sea level rise in the 21st century to create a computer model of changes in the world's coastal areas caused by global warming.