Tag: Greenland

Researchers discover world’s ‘northernmost’ island

Scientists have discovered what is believed to be the world’s northernmost landmass — a yet-to-be-named island north of Greenland that could soon be swallowed up by seawaters. Researchers came upon the landmass on an expedition in July, and initially thought they had reached Oodaaq, up until now the northernmost island on the planet. “We were informed that there had been an error on my GPS which had led us to believe that we were standing […]

Rain on Greenland ice sheet signals climate change risk

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Rain fell at the highest point on Greenland’s ice sheet — possibly for the first time — in an event Danish scientists on Monday said was most likely driven by climate change. The rain was observed for several hours on August 14 at a measuring post more than 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) up on the sheet, the US Snow and Ice Data Center reported. For rain to fall, temperatures must be […]

Heatwave causes massive melt of Greenland ice sheet

Greenland’s ice sheet has experienced a “massive melting event” during a heatwave that has seen temperatures more than 10 degrees above seasonal norms, according to Danish researchers. Since Wednesday the ice sheet covering the vast Arctic territory, has melted by around eight billion tonnes a day, twice its normal average rate during summer, reported the Polar Portal website, which is run by Danish researchers. The Danish Meteorological Institute reported temperatures of more than 20 degrees […]

Extreme melt reduced Greenland ice sheet storage: study

by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — The vast melting of Greenland’s ice sheet caused by unusually high temperatures in 2012 had a lasting impact on its ability to absorb and store future meltwater, new research showed Tuesday. Authors of the research said it was evidence of how one-off or rare weather events could have a lasting impact on Earth’s frozen spaces and a knock-on effect on global sea levels. In summer 2012, much of […]

Sea level: Greenland ice loss worst in 12,000 years

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse Ice loss from Greenland’s massive ice sheet will cause sea levels to rise more during the 21st century than they have during any 100-year period in the last 12,000 years, even if global warming is held in check, scientists said Wednesday. The study — based on ice core data and models and published in the journal Nature — is the first to painstakingly reconstruct Greenland’s ice loss record over the […]

Massive chunk of Greenland’s largest glacier crashes into sea

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — A massive chunk of ice — larger than the city of Paris — has broken off from the Arctic’s largest ice shelf because of warmer temperatures in Greenland, scientists said Monday. The 113-square-kilometre (43-square-mile) block broke off the Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier in Northeast Greenland, which the scientists said had been expected given the rising average temperatures. “We’re observing increasing speed on this largest remaining ice shelf,” Jason Box, professor of glaciology at […]

Climate change fuels sharp increase in glacier lakes

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The volume of lakes formed as glaciers worldwide melt due to climate change has jumped by 50 percent in 30 years, according to a new study based on satellite data. “We have known that not all meltwater is making it into the oceans immediately,” lead author Dan Shugar, a geomorphologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary, said in a statement. “But until now there […]

Greenland ice melting past ‘tipping point’: study

by Camille BAS-WOHLERT COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The melting of Greenland’s ice cap has gone so far that it is now irreversible, with snowfall no longer able to compensate for the loss of ice even if global warming were to end today, according to researchers. “Greenland’s glaciers have passed a tipping point of sorts, where the snowfall that replenishes the ice sheet each year cannot keep up with the ice that is flowing into the […]

Alarms ring as Greenland ice loss causes 40% of 2019 sea level rise

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The kilometres-thick icesheet that covers Greenland saw a near-record imbalance last year between new snowfall and the discharge of meltwater and ice into the ocean, scientists have reported. A net loss of 600 billion tonnes was enough to raise the global watermark 1.5 millimetres, about 40 percent of total sea level rise in 2019. The Greenland icesheet — which, until the end of the 20th century accumulated […]

Greenland confirms first case of coronavirus

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Greenland announced its first case of the novel coronavirus on Monday, as the autonomous Danish Arctic territory brought in restrictions to protect residents from the pandemic. “The first case of the new coronavirus has now been confirmed in Greenland,” according to a local government statement, citing the island’s health service. The infected patient lives in the capital Nuuk, and has been placed in home isolation, the government added. “Preparations have been […]

Six-fold jump in polar ice loss lifts global oceans

by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — Greenland and Antarctica are shedding six times more ice than during the 1990s, driving sea-level rise that could see annual flooding by 2100 in regions home today to some 400 million people, scientists have warned. The kilometers-thick ice sheets atop landmasses at the planet’s extremities sloughed off 6.4 trillion tonnes of mass from 1992 through 2017, adding nearly two centimeters (an inch) to the global watermark, according to […]

Greenland ice loss faster than expected

by Bryan McManus Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The melting of Greenland’s massive ice sheet is happening much faster than expected and could put millions more people at risk by the end of the century, scientists warned Tuesday. Up to three kilometres thick (two miles) in some places, Greenland has lost 3.8 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, enough on its own to add 10.6 millimetres (1.06 centimetres, 0.4 inches) to sea levels, according […]