Greenland sea ice melting at unprecedented rate

Discussion in 'Current Events' started by EarthSky, Jun 18, 2019.

  1. EarthSky

    EarthSky Well-Known Member

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    Greenland is experiencing soaring temperatures - again. This year has shown extremes some 40 degrees F above normal. Sea ice is melting far faster than should be expected for this time of year. This is very unusual says William Colgan as senior researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark:

    "On that day, Greenland is estimated to have lost the equivalent of 2bn tonnes of ice. Temperatures, according to the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting, were around 22C above normal the day before. In the village of Qaanaaq, a high of 17.3C was recorded.

    Since then, Mr Olsen's photo has been shared widely on social media, provoking concern at the extent of the melting event and its causes.

    Greenland's ice sheet melts annually, with the season usually lasting from June to August. The summer months - typically in July - are when it reaches its height. This year, however, climate experts say it is early."

    Mr Colgan compared the melt to 2012, when record-breaking ice sheet loss was recorded in Greenland. He said the same two factors were thought to have caused last week's ice melt and the historic event of 2012.

    One is high pressure lodged over Greenland, creating warm and sunny conditions. The other is low cloud cover and snowfall, meaning solar radiation can strike the ice sheet surface.

    Global warming, Mr Colgan said, was "tremendously important" to these sorts of events."

    [​IMG]Temperature anomaly above average degrees F

    It is estimated that over 45% of Greenland's ice sheet is experiencing melting so far this year and it is only June.

    "What climate change is doing is increasingly loading the dice to set up weather conditions that can tip the ice sheets into these mass loss events," he said.

    If these trends continued, said Professor Edward Hanna, a climate scientist at the University of Lincoln, Greenland could experience a record melt this year.

    "The thing is, with climate trends, as we've seen over the past 20 years, as it gets warmer and warmer over Greenland, you don't need that much of an exceptional event to melt the whole surface of the ice," he told the BBC.

    The consequences, he said, would not only be felt locally but globally, too."


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    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48674797

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/climate/greenland-ice.html

    https://www.pnas.org/content/116/19/9239

    https://www.sciencealert.com/greenl...rmal-this-week-and-things-are-getting-intense

    Already have had towns threatened with wildfire evacuations in Northern Alberta this year and that was in May!!!!

    Harder and harder to deny.........
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2019

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