Rapid Glacier Melting: Greenland’s Ice Sheets Thawing Five Times Faster Than Two Decades Ago

According to scientists from the University of Copenhagen, global warming has accelerated the melting of glaciers in Greenland fivefold over the past two decades.

Greenland’s ice melt is particularly concerning as the ancient ice sheet holds enough water to raise sea levels by at least 20 feet (6 meters) if it fully dissolves.

Research on a thousand glaciers in the region has shown that the rate of melting has escalated dramatically over the last 20 years, indicating a new phase in the process, according to Anders Anker Bjork, assistant professor at the department of geosciences and natural resource management at the University of Copenhagen.

“There is a very clear correlation between the temperature we experience on the planet and the changes we observe in how rapidly the glaciers are melting,” Bjork said.

On average, glaciers now shrink by 25 meters annually, as opposed to 5-6 meters around two decades ago, as concluded by scientists after examining the development of glaciers over 130 years through satellite imagery and 200,000 old photos.

Valleys cut by glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet along the mountains of Greenland, August 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
Acquire Licensing Rights

Nearly 1.2C (2.2F) of the world has already warmed above pre-industrial temperatures, and it is forecasted to be the warmest in 125,000 years by scientists from the European Union earlier this month.

A global initiative to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is needed to lower temperatures, according to Jørgen Eivind Olesen, Institute Director of the Climate Institute at Aarhus University.

“I believe we can prepare for those glaciers to continue to melt at increasing speeds,” Olesen said.

Greenland’s glaciers are often used to project the impacts of climate change on Greenland’s ice sheet.

“If we start to see glaciers losing mass several times faster than in the last century, it can make us expect that the ice sheet will follow the same path just on a slower and longer time scale,” said William Colgan, senior researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).

The Greenland ice sheet has contributed 17.3% of the observed rise in sea level between 2006 and 2018, with glaciers accounting for 21%. There are approximately 22,000 glaciers in Greenland.

Our Standards:
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.