Greenland [in "State of the Climate in 2009"]

• Published in: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
• Main Authors: Box, J., Bhattacharya, I., Cappelen, J., Decker, D., Fettweis, Xavier, Kezek, K., Mote, T., Tedesco, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Meteorological Society 2010
• Subjects: Physical; chemical; mathematical & earth Sciences; Earth sciences & physical geography; Physique; chimie; mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Sciences de la terre & géographie physique; Arctic; glacier*; glaciers; Greenland; Ice; permafrost; Tundra; Alaska; Siberia
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/69283; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/69283/1/bams-sotc-2009-chapter5-the-arctic-lo-rez.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-91-7-StateoftheClimate

peer reviewed The summer minimum ice extent in the Arctic was the third-lowest recorded since 1979. The 2008/09 boreal snow cover season marked a continuation of relatively shorter snow seasons, due primarily to an early disappearance of snow cover in spring. Preliminary data indicate a high probability that 2009 will be the 19th consecutive year that glaciers have lost mass. Below normal precipitation led the 34 widest marine terminating glaciers in Greenland to lose 101 km2 ice area in 2009, within an annual loss rate of 106 km2 over the past decade. Observations show a general increase in permafrost temperatures during the last several decades in Alaska, northwest Canada, Siberia, and Northern Europe. Changes in the timing of tundra green-up and senescence are also occurring, with earlier green-up in the High Arctic and a shift to a longer green season in fall in the Low Arctic.