UK (Commonwealth Union) – The Greenland ice sheet which is located in the northern hemisphere is the 2nd largest ice sheet in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet. Conducting research is usually quite laborious due to the freezing temperatures and other logistical issues.
A new study has indicated that the Greenland ice sheet may be more at risk to climate change than previously believed. The researchers also stated that elevated air temperatures raise the effects of melting which results from ocean warming, bringing about further ice loss.
Prior findings have demonstrated that elevated air and ocean temperatures both cause Greenland ice sheet melting, the new research indicates how one intensifies the impacts of the other. The Greenland elevation happens as a result of hot air temperatures melting the surface of the ice sheet leading to the production of meltwater.
Meltwater moving into the seas produces turbulence that brings about more heat melting the edges of the ice sheet submerged in the ocean which is referred to as submarine melting. The study by the Universities of Edinburgh and California San Diego have explored submarine melting of the Greenland ice sheet that covers over 650,000 square miles in more than 40 years from 1979 to 2018.
The effect of warming air and seas on ice sheet loss was determined by observational data and computer modelling to study the impact each had on submarine melting.
Dr Donald Slater of the university’s School of GeoSciences stated that the effect studied is a similar to ice cubes dissolving in a drink as the ice cubes will dissolve quicker in a warm drink than in a cold drink, therefore the edges of the Greenland ice sheet melts quicker when the ocean is warmer. “But ice cubes in a drink will also melt faster if you stir the drink, and rising air temperatures in Greenland effectively result in a stirring of the ocean close to the ice sheet, causing faster melting of the ice sheet by the ocean” he added.
