New Science Warns of Impending Disaster as Greenland’s Ice Shelves Rapidly Decline
A groundbreaking study published this week in Nature Communications has revealed the alarming rate at which the ice shelves in northern Greenland are disappearing, threatening to significantly accelerate sea level rise if the trend continues.
According to the research, these massive ice shelves have lost 35 percent of their overall volume since 1978, resulting in a loss of approximately 400 billion tons of floating ice. This has profound implications on sea level rise, as the ice shelves act as a ‘stopper’ preventing glaciers from rapidly flowing into the sea.
The study, conducted by researchers from various institutions around the world, found that only five large ice shelves remain in northern Greenland, three of which – Petermann, Ryder, and Nioghalvfjerdsbrae (also known as 79 North) – could account for 3.6 feet of sea level rise if they were to melt entirely.
What makes this even more concerning is that these remaining ice shelves are rapidly retreating inland, leaving them more vulnerable to melting from warm ocean waters. The implications of these findings are profound, revealing a direct connection between the ice shelf changes and the dynamics of Greenland’s glaciers.
The largest of Greenland’s ice shelves – 79 North – has been identified as particularly vulnerable, with recent measurements confirming that warm Atlantic water has been reaching the base of the glacier, carving a deep channel into the underside of the ice shelf near the grounding line.
The instability of these ice shelves is a cause for concern, as their rapid decline could lead to a significant increase in global sea level rise. Without these ‘stopper’ ice shelves, glaciers are likely to flow more rapidly into the sea, further exacerbating the ongoing climate crisis.
Scientists and researchers working on the expedition have also expressed concern over the potential collapse of these ice shelves, warning that it will add to the growing increase in global sea level rise if action is not taken preemptively.
As the debate around climate change continues to gain traction, this latest study is a stark reminder of the urgent need to address the impacts of warming on Earth’s polar regions and the potentially catastrophic consequences of further glacier and ice shelf loss.