A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps
Melting of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its peripheral glaciers and ice caps (GICs) contributes about 43% to contemporary sea level rise. While patterns of GrIS mass loss are well studied, the spatial and temporal evolution of GICs mass loss and the acting processes have remained unclear. Here...
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ftunivzuerich:oai:www.zora.uzh.ch:136522 2024-06-23T07:53:16+00:00 A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps Noël, B van de Berg, W J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Machguth, H Howat, I Citterio, M Moholdt, G Lenaerts, J T M van den Broeke, M R 2017 application/pdf https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/136522/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/136522/1/noel_NC_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-136522 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14730 eng eng Nature Publishing Group https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/136522/1/noel_NC_2017.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-136522 doi:10.1038/ncomms14730 info:pmid/28361871 urn:issn:2041-1723 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Noël, B; van de Berg, W J; Lhermitte, S; Wouters, B; Machguth, H; Howat, I; Citterio, M; Moholdt, G; Lenaerts, J T M; van den Broeke, M R (2017). A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps. Nature Communications, 8:14730. Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Journal Article PeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2017 ftunivzuerich https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-13652210.1038/ncomms14730 2024-05-29T00:39:00Z Melting of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its peripheral glaciers and ice caps (GICs) contributes about 43% to contemporary sea level rise. While patterns of GrIS mass loss are well studied, the spatial and temporal evolution of GICs mass loss and the acting processes have remained unclear. Here we use a novel, 1 km surface mass balance product, evaluated against in situ and remote sensing data, to identify 1997 (±5 years) as a tipping point for GICs mass balance. That year marks the onset of a rapid deterioration in the capacity of the GICs firn to refreeze meltwater. Consequently, GICs runoff increases 65% faster than meltwater production, tripling the post-1997 mass loss to 36±16 Gt-1, or ∼14% of the Greenland total. In sharp contrast, the extensive inland firn of the GrIS retains most of its refreezing capacity for now, buffering 22% of the increased meltwater production. This underlines the very different response of the GICs and GrIS to atmospheric warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive Greenland |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivzuerich |
language |
English |
topic |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel |
spellingShingle |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Noël, B van de Berg, W J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Machguth, H Howat, I Citterio, M Moholdt, G Lenaerts, J T M van den Broeke, M R A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
topic_facet |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel |
description |
Melting of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its peripheral glaciers and ice caps (GICs) contributes about 43% to contemporary sea level rise. While patterns of GrIS mass loss are well studied, the spatial and temporal evolution of GICs mass loss and the acting processes have remained unclear. Here we use a novel, 1 km surface mass balance product, evaluated against in situ and remote sensing data, to identify 1997 (±5 years) as a tipping point for GICs mass balance. That year marks the onset of a rapid deterioration in the capacity of the GICs firn to refreeze meltwater. Consequently, GICs runoff increases 65% faster than meltwater production, tripling the post-1997 mass loss to 36±16 Gt-1, or ∼14% of the Greenland total. In sharp contrast, the extensive inland firn of the GrIS retains most of its refreezing capacity for now, buffering 22% of the increased meltwater production. This underlines the very different response of the GICs and GrIS to atmospheric warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Noël, B van de Berg, W J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Machguth, H Howat, I Citterio, M Moholdt, G Lenaerts, J T M van den Broeke, M R |
author_facet |
Noël, B van de Berg, W J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Machguth, H Howat, I Citterio, M Moholdt, G Lenaerts, J T M van den Broeke, M R |
author_sort |
Noël, B |
title |
A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
title_short |
A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
title_full |
A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
title_fullStr |
A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
title_full_unstemmed |
A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
title_sort |
tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of greenland’s glaciers and ice caps |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/136522/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/136522/1/noel_NC_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-136522 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14730 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Noël, B; van de Berg, W J; Lhermitte, S; Wouters, B; Machguth, H; Howat, I; Citterio, M; Moholdt, G; Lenaerts, J T M; van den Broeke, M R (2017). A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps. Nature Communications, 8:14730. |
op_relation |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/136522/1/noel_NC_2017.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-136522 doi:10.1038/ncomms14730 info:pmid/28361871 urn:issn:2041-1723 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-13652210.1038/ncomms14730 |
_version_ |
1802644849346740224 |