Greenland’s ice is melting at an alarming rate. It is not surprising that, in the hot season, this continent covered by ice in 80% of its surface loses part of its enormous frozen layer; what is unusual is that it is happening at such a rapid rate, which is alarming scientists.
On June 14, more than 40% of Greenland lost more than two gigatons of ice, or what is the same, 2,000,000,000 (two billion) tons in a single day . A thaw that takes place, not only in a very few hours, but also much earlier than expected, before the arrival of the peak season of the thaw, which normally takes place in the month of July.
As indicated by the portal Polar Portal and Greenland, the “heat wave” in Greenland continues, with another day of high ice loss yesterday (June 17) the highest so far this year with more than 3 km³ lost.
The forecast states that the abnormally warm conditions will continue for the next few days, but that the temperature will drop towards the end of the week.
2012: the other unprecedented thaw event
It is not the first time that a catastrophic thaw event has occurred on the big island. In July 2012, something similar happened: in a very short period of time, a few days, 97% of the entire ice sheet had melted surface ice. The warm conditions in 2012 were caused by a persistent pattern of high pressure that lasted much of the summer.
However, the conditions in which this thaw occurred on an expected time scale: the month of July. But these days in 2019, the ice sheet is melting much earlier than usual – three weeks earlier.
The causes of this early and frenzied thaw may derive from atmospheric circulation in the Arctic and the North Atlantic. Furthermore, even before this latest peak thaw period, Greenland’s ice quantity was already abnormally low everywhere except the southeast, which has received abnormally heavy snowfall this winter.
This is detailed in a statement from the Polar Portal portal: “The high melting rates were due to the warmer air moving over the ice sheet which, in combination with low snowfall in most of the ice sheet During the winter period, it means that large amounts of melt ice are expected this year. “
Photograph: Steffen M Olsen / Twitter
One of the most shocking photos of these days shows a team from the Danish Meteorological Institute traveling through melting sea ice to retrieve their equipment.
“Steffen Malskaer got the difficult task of retrieving our oceanographic moorings and weather station on sea ice in North West Greenland this year. Rapid melt and sea ice with low permeability and few cracks leaves the melt water on top.”
Steffen Malskaer had the difficult task of reclaiming our oceanographic moorings and weather stations on the sea ice in northwestern Greenland this year. Rapid melting and sea ice with low permeability and few cracks leave the melted water on top.
The frozen continent
80% of the largest island in the world is covered by a huge layer of ice. The Greenland ice sheets have developed over many thousands of years, accumulating year after year and gradually compressing into ice. The ice dome is currently more than 3,000 meters high at its top. The total volume of the ice sheet is approximately 2,900,000 km3. If that body of frozen fresh water were to melt, it would raise global sea level by about 7 meters.
The consequences
The ice sheet normally gains snow during the winter and melts during the summer, but in recent decades its mass has been declining. The Greenland ice sheet contains a large amount of fresh water, which if added to the ocean could raise the sea level enough to flood many coastal areas where people from all over the world live.
