Ice in Greenland melted to ‘point of no return’ – Wel.nl

The ice in Greenland has melted to such an extent that the situation is irreversible. Even if global warming stops, the ice will continue to melt. This is evident from one new study where CNN writes about.

“The ice sheet is now in a new dynamic state, rapidly losing mass, even as we go back to the climate of 20 to 30 years ago,” said Ian Howat, one of the Ohio State University researchers.

Rising sea levels
The Greenland ice sheet dumps more than 280 billion tons of melting ice into the ocean every year. This makes the ice shelf the largest contribution to sea level rise in the world, according to lead researcher Michalea King. “The loss of ice has been so great in recent years that the gravitational field over Greenland has changed measurably.”

The researchers used four decades of satellite data to measure the changes in the Greenland ice sheet. They found that after 2000, the ice melted so quickly that not enough snow fell to compensate for the new ice that continued to be exposed to the warmer ocean waters, even if climate change were to be stopped.

Turning point
The melting ice in Greenland is causing sea level rise of more than a millimeter per year, and that is getting worse. By the end of the century, sea levels have risen by nearly three feet. That is enough to flood large areas along the coast. In the US alone, 40 percent of the population lives in vulnerable coastal regions.

“We are point of no return passed, but there is more to come, ”says Howat. “It is not a turning point where we go from a happy ice sheet to a collapsed ice sheet. It is more like a staircase where we slipped off the first step, but there are many more steps to follow. ”

Bron(nen): CNN –