Get a short URL
Scientists note that the global movement of declining rather than rising glaciers poses a threat to Greenland’s coastline and thus to the balance of its entire ecosystem.
A recent study by the National Snow and Ice Data Center found that Greenland’s glaciers are returning across the country to the islands, while also experiencing other physical changes.
An in-depth study of 225 of Greenland’s ocean glaciers, which flow from the ice sheet directly into the ocean, shows that none has made great progress for the last ten years. gone, and most have declined sharply.
About 80 percent of Greenland is covered by a large ice sheet, known as a continental glacier, which in some places reaches a thickness of up to 3 kilometers (2 miles).
As the glaciers move toward the sea, they are usually replenished with fresh snow inside the ice sheet that turns further into ice. This study, as well as previous research, shows that the delicate balance between glacial melting and ice replenishment varies significantly, as do iceberg calf levels.
As a result of rising air and ocean temperatures, the ice sheet is rapidly losing mass and, as a result, large amounts of meltwater flow directly into the sea, altering the ecosystem.
“Greenland’s coastal environment is undergoing a major transformation,” said Alex Gardner, a snow and ice scientist at NASA’s Jet Deployment Laboratory and co-author of the study, further explaining the visual changes. in the landscape of the area.
“We are already seeing new sections of the ocean and fjords open as the ice sheet returns, and now we have evidence of changes to these freshwater streams. So losing ice is not just about changing sea levels, it is also about redesigning the Greenland coast and changing the ecology of the coast ”.