Is the Greenland Ice Sheet in a state of collapse?
The Greenland Ice Sheet is thinning at an accelerating pace and the ice sheet's contribution to sea‐level rise has doubled in less than a decade. New data show rapid and widespread changes in the behaviour of the ice sheet, particularly along the coastal margin. These changes coincide with a de...
| Published in: | Geology Today |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2006
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00561.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2451.2006.00561.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00561.x |
| Summary: | The Greenland Ice Sheet is thinning at an accelerating pace and the ice sheet's contribution to sea‐level rise has doubled in less than a decade. New data show rapid and widespread changes in the behaviour of the ice sheet, particularly along the coastal margin. These changes coincide with a decade of sustained Arctic warming of up to 3 °C. Decay of the Greenland Ice Sheet in response to global warming will not only be governed by increased surface melting during longer and warmer summers but also by a speed‐up of coastal glaciers that drain the interior ice sheet. A precise estimate of sea‐level rise in the twenty‐first century relies on improved theoretical treatment of these glaciers in computer models. |
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