Greenlands

Petermann Glacier drains about 4 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet as it moves inexorably toward the Arctic Ocean. A new observation and modeling study shows that the glacier is more vulnerable than previously thought to the intrusion of warm ocean water on its underside, leading to accelerated melting and boosting the potential severity of future sea level rise. Credit: Eric Rignot / UCIUC Irvine researchers suggest we may be underestimating the severity of sea level rise.Researchers at the University of California,…

Russell Glacier and proglacial area, near Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland. Credit: Jonathan Carrivick An estimated 11,000 sq miles or 28,707 sq kilometers of Greenland's ice sheet and glaciers have melted over the last three decades, according to a major analysis of historic satellite records. The total area of ice loss is equivalent to the size of…

With 61 GPS-based (GNSS) measuring stations in Greenland, it is possible to measure how the country rises when the ice cap above melts and release pressure on the bedrock beneath. The scientists are able to distinguish between movements from contemporary climate changes and ancient movements from the last ice age. Credit: DTU Space While much of the world is grappling with rising sea levels due to the melting of Greenland's ice…

Jakobshavn Isbrae, a glacier on Greenland’s western coast, is shown in imagery taken on September 4, 2022, by Landsat 8, breaking at its edge. A recent study found that from 1985 to 2022 the Greenland Ice Sheet shed about 1,140 billion tons (1,034 billion metric tons) – one-fifth more mass than previously estimated. Credit: NASA/USGSA new, comprehensive analysis of satellite data finds more Greenland ice lost than previously estimated and that the majority of glaciers on the landmass have retreated significantly.The…

Climate change has caused Greenland's ice sheet to lose 20 percent more ice than previously thought, according to research published Wednesday that used satellite imagery to track the retreat of glaciers over the past four decades.Previous studies have found that about 5,000 gigatons of ice has been lost from the surface of the Greenland ice sheet in the past two decades, a major contributor to rising sea levels.In the new study, researchers in the United States compiled nearly 240,000 satellite images of glacier…

A collaborative study has found that Greenland’s peripheral glaciers are retreating at an unprecedented rate, with the retreat in the 21st century being twice as fast as in the 20th century. This rapid change, linked to climate change, was revealed through a combination of satellite and historical aerial imagery.The new findings are ubiquitous, even among Earth’s northernmost glaciers.New study documents how Greenland’s peripheral glaciers have changed from 1890 to 2022Using satellite images and a unique archive of…

The Zachariæ Isstrøm glacier in 2016, discharging several kilometer-long icebergs into the ocean. The melting of platforms in North Greenland could make a significant contribution to rising sea levels. Credit: Romain Millan The largest floating ice shelves in the polar ice sheet have lost more than a third of their volume since 1978. In a study published on Nov. 7 in Nature Communications, scientists from the CNRS, alongside…

One of the 200,000 photos collected by Danish pilots (from open-cockpit airplanes) of Greenland's coastline. Credit: Danish National Archives Greenland's thousands of peripheral glaciers have entered a new and widespread state of rapid retreat, a Northwestern University and University of Copenhagen study has found. To piece…

Climate change would be much worse if it weren’t for the oceans, which have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat humanity has pumped into the atmosphere. That warming of the oceans has already been devastating for the organisms that live there, but it’s also come back to bite us in a more unexpected way: It’s contributing to the destruction of ice sitting on top of Greenland.That ailing ice sheet (the bit resting on land) contributed more than 17 percent of observed sea level rise between 2006 and 2018, and new research…

High rates of meltwater discharge combined with a thick and gently sloping ice sheet in Western Greenland gives rise to monster holes like this moulin. Credit: Alun Hubbard I'm striding along the steep bank of a raging white-water torrent, and even though the canyon is only about the width of a highway, the river's flow is greater than that of London's Thames. The deafening roar and rumble of the cascading water is…