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https://theconversation.com/whats-going-on-with-the-greenland-ice-sheet-its-losing-ice-faster-than-forecast-and-now-irreversibly-committed-to-at-least-10-inches-of-sea-level-rise-185590>
"I’m standing at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, mesmerized by a
mind-blowing scene of natural destruction. A milewide section of glacier front
has fractured and is collapsing into the ocean, calving an immense iceberg.
Seracs, giant columns of ice the height of three-story houses, are being tossed
around like dice. And the previously submerged portion of this immense block of
glacier ice just breached the ocean – a frothing maelstrom flinging ice cubes
of several tons high into the air. The resulting tsunami inundates all in its
path as it radiates from the glacier’s calving front.
Fortunately, I’m watching from a clifftop a couple of miles away. But even
here, I can feel the seismic shocks through the ground.
Despite the spectacle, I’m keenly aware that this spells yet more unwelcome
news for the world’s low-lying coastlines.
As a field glaciologist, I’ve worked on ice sheets for more than 30 years. In
that time, I have witnessed some gobsmacking changes. The past few years in
particular have been unnerving for the sheer rate and magnitude of change
underway. My revered textbooks taught me that ice sheets respond over
millennial time scales, but that’s not what we’re seeing today.
A study published Aug. 29, 2022, demonstrates – for the first time – that
Greenland’s ice sheet is now so out of balance with prevailing Arctic climate
that it no longer can sustain its current size. It is irreversibly committed to
retreat by at least 59,000 square kilometers (22,780 square miles), an area
considerably larger than Denmark, Greenland’s protectorate state.
Even if all the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming ceased today,
we find that Greenland’s ice loss under current temperatures will raise global
sea level by at least 10.8 inches (27.4 centimeters). That’s more than current
models forecast, and it’s a highly conservative estimate. If every year were
like 2012, when Greenland experienced a heat wave, that irreversible commitment
to sea level rise would triple. That’s an ominous portent given that these are
climate conditions we have already seen, not a hypothetical future scenario."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
