Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Khan, Shfaqat A., Colgan, William, Neumann, Thomas A., van den Broeke, Michiel R., Brunt, Kelly M., Noel, Brice, Bamber, Jonathan L., Hassan, Javed, Bjork, Anders A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Greenland; ice mass loss; Icesat-2; peripheral glacier; satellite altimetry; sea level rise; SHEET SURFACE ELEVATION; MASS-BALANCE; FIRN-DENSIFICATION; RECONCILED ESTIMATE; BRIEF-COMMUNICATION; CAPS; TIME; MAP; glacier; Ice Sheet; North Greenland
• Online Access: https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/accelerating-ice-loss-from-peripheral-glaciers-in-north-greenland(50381bd0-95ca-427c-a9d1-aec5015d6483).html; https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098915; https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/311724661/Accelerating_Ice_Loss_From_Peripheral_Glaciers_in_North_Greenland.pdf

In recent decades, Greenland's peripheral glaciers have experienced large-scale mass loss, resulting in a substantial contribution to sea level rise. While their total area of Greenland ice cover is relatively small (4%), their mass loss is disproportionally large compared to the Greenland ice sheet. Satellite altimetry from Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and ICESat-2 shows that mass loss from Greenland's peripheral glaciers increased from 27.2 +/- 6.2 Gt/yr (February 2003-October 2009) to 42.3 +/- 6.2 Gt/yr (October 2018-December 2021). These relatively small glaciers now constitute 11 +/- 2% of Greenland's ice loss and contribute to global sea level rise. In the period October 2018-December 2021, mass loss increased by a factor of four for peripheral glaciers in North Greenland. While peripheral glacier mass loss is widespread, we also observe a complex regional pattern where increases in precipitation at high altitudes have partially counteracted increases in melt at low altitude.