Greenland 2010: New Record for Ice Melt
Greenland’s ice-sheet is 3 miles thick in some parts. If Greenland’s ice all melted, it would raise worldwide sea-levels by 23 feet! No climate models so far deem this to be a reality, at least within the next century, but so far all models have been pretty much exceeded so far. In light of this, we should take not that last year set the record for Greenland’s ice-melt after a longer-than-usual melt season which lasted 50 days beyond the average. The Map image below gives an indication of how 2010 stands in contrast to the averaged out melt-season over 30 years between 1979 and 2009. The image was assembled from microwave data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) of the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program. Snow and ice emit microwaves, but the signal is different for wet, melting snow than for dry. It’s pretty simple; the redder the map, the greater days of snow and ice melt.
Record Melting in Greenland during 2010. Courtesy of http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Dr. Marco Tedesco, director of the Cryospheric Processes Laboratory at The City College of New York (CCNY — CUNY), who is leading a project studying variables that affect ice sheet melting, summed it up to Scientific America:
“This past melt season was exceptional, with melting in some areas stretching up to 50 days longer than average. Melting in 2010 started exceptionally early at the end of April and ended quite late in mid- September. The increasing melting trend over Greenland can be observed from the figure. Over the past 30 years, the area subject to melting in Greenland has been increasing at a rate of ~ 17,000 Km2/year. This is equivalent to adding a melt-region the size of Washington State every ten years. Or, in alternative, this means that an area of the size of France melted in 2010 which was not melting in 1979.”
NASA’s Earth Observatory says the following:
The long melt season primarily affected southern and western Greenland, where communities experienced their warmest year on record. After a warm, dry winter, temperatures were particularly high in the spring, getting the melt season off to a strong start. The early melting set the tone for the rest of the season, leading to more melting all the way into mid-September.
The importance of the melt is not to be underestimated. Greenland is losing a France-sized area of ice more than it was losing 30 years ago. If an ice-cap melts, whilst there are various troubling impacts, the impact on sea-level is negligible. Both Greenland and Antarctica’s respective ice sheets are land-based, which means they will add water volume to the ocean and for this reason they pose the greatest threat.
Predictions of a 0.5-1 metre rise over the coming century have been predominant amongst climate theorists. However as the (2009) video below indicates, such models exclude the possibility of “Rapid Dynamic Change in ice flow.” This is where “a significant stream of melting ice makes its way down to the bedrock and crates a lubricating layer at the bas of the ice”, which causes the sheet’s movement and flow to accelerate. Depending on such dynamic factors, increased global warming might lead to a much more major sea-level rise than presently anticipated.
Whatever the case, and however justified our fears – there is no denying the pure and astounding beauty that nature’s ice melts provide:
Video footage taken by Dr. Tedesco
Ice Melt in a canyon in Greenland
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