On 28 July, a quantity of ice melted from Greenland that covered the entire surface of Italy (300 thousand square kilometers) with a 2.6 cm high layer of water. According to data from Polar Portal, run by a group of polar scientists from Denmark, that day a mass of 22 billion tons of ice turned into water, of which 12 ended up in the ocean and the remaining 10 were absorbed by the ice sheet. glacial and can then refreeze. The day before, however, another 8.5 billion tons had melted and the following day 8.4 billion. Despite everything, the date of July 28 is only the third in the ranking of the largest single-day ice melts in Greenland since 1950, surpassed by two events in 2019 and 2012.
Melted Greenlandic ice has contributed about 25% to the sea level rise that has been going on for several decades. From 2000 to today, the melting of ice has increased four times compared to the previous decade. If it continued at this rate, sea levels would rise 10-18 centimeters by the end of the century, 60% higher than previously estimated. (read on after the links and the photo)
Sled dogs run on the water-covered pack for melting ice in Greenland: the photo of summer 2019 (Steffen M.Olsen / AP)
Polar scientists are also concerned by the fact that, according to them, the current climate models that predict the future course of the ice mass on Greenland fail to fully incorporate the impact caused by changes in atmospheric circulation and therefore are led to underestimate the trend. upon dissolution.
Therefore, it is not just a question of the fact that “it’s hotter”, but of a more complex mechanism triggered by large polar areas of high pressure that draw warmer air from the south like a vacuum cleaner. Proof? On 28 July on the east coast at Constable Pynt it was measured at 23.2 degrees and the next day at Nerlerit Inaat at 23.4, more than ten above the average.