🏔️ What is the Greenland Ice Sheet?

So, we’ve been hearing a lot about Greenland recently.

Did you know:

• Greenland is the world’s biggest island 🏝️

• It’s the least densely populated region on Earth 🛖

• It’s home to the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second-biggest body of ice on Earth after the Antarctic Ice Sheet 🗻

Today’s newsletter is about the Greenland ice sheet and why we should be worried about new research raising concerns about the pace at which it’s melting.

Greenland Ice Sheet Facts:

• The ice sheet covers more than 1.7 million square kilometers 

• It's the largest freshwater reservoir in the northern hemisphere

• Studies have shown that the ice sheet is melting, with an estimated 30 million tons of ice being lost every hour

We all know that melting ice is a big part of climate change.

Higher air & ocean temperatures mean that ice sheets melt faster.

That melted ice enters the world’s oceans, raising the sea level over time.

Studies has shown that melting ice from the Greenland ice sheet has led global sea levels to rise by 0.55 inches between 2003 and 2019.

That doesn't seem like much, but it makes a massive difference for coastal areas and low-lying island nations.

The release of freshwater from the melting ice also affects the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), an important ocean current that regulates global temperatures.

Last year, 44 leading climate scientists signed a letter saying that the collapse of AMOC has been “greatly underestimated” and that such a collapse could have
“potentially catastrophic consequences” for the world.

A study from the University of Copenhagen estimates that AMOC will most likely collapse by 2057.

That could lead to cooler temperatures in Europe and higher temperatures in tropical regions that will already be feeling the heat from climate change.

The Greenland Ice Sheet also keeps the world cooler in a surprising way.

It’s called the albedo effect.

Basically, the white surface of the ice sheet reflects solar radiation back into space, keeping our planet cooler than if the solar rays were absorbed by the ocean.

As more of the ice melts and the ice sheet loses surface area, our planet will get hotter as it absorbs more solar radiation.

So, we should all be concerned with the pace at which the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting.

Here’s the bad news: a new study found that 930 million cubic meters of ice fractures formed in the ice sheet between 2016 and 2021.

It's obvious that the ice sheet would melt due to higher temperatures in the air and surrounding ocean.

However, the new study shows that these cracks are coming from within.

Dr. Tom Chudley, one of the lead authors of the study, explained:

I will conclude with another quote from Dr. Chudley's article in The Conversation, where he considers the long-term consequences of melting ice for our planet:

P.S. Click here to read a great article (with lots of pictures) about glaciers in art.

ART OF THE DAY