Heat wave caused massive melting of Greenland ice sheet

A heat wave in Greenland, with temperatures more than ten degrees above seasonal norms, this week caused an episode of “massive” melting of the Greenland ice sheetglaciologists have warned.

Since Wednesday, the ice cap that covers the vast arctic territory has melted some 8,000 million tonnes every day, double the average rate of the summer period, based on data from Polar Portal, a modeling tool managed by Danish research institutes.

According to the Danish Meteorological Institute DMI, unusual temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius have been recorded in northern Greenland in recent days, with local records.

At the small Nerlerit Inaat airport in northeast Greenland, mercury hit 23.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the highest level since the weather station started recording records and above the highest temperature registered in Denmark that day.

This heat wave, which also affected much of the vast arctic territory, accelerated the rate of melting of the ice sheet.

By comparison, the immense volume of water melted daily in recent days – 8 billion liters of fresh water – “would be enough to cover the entire surface of Florida with two inches of water.” Polar portal underlined.

Greenland’s daily melt record, which dates back to the summer of 2019, has not been broken, but the part of the territory where the ice has melted is higher than two years ago, the monitoring site said. of the Arctic.

Second ice cap after Antarctica, with an area of ​​nearly 1.8 million square kilometers, the ice cap covering Greenland worries scientists because warming in the arctic is three times faster than in the rest of the world.

Its decline, which began several decades ago, has accelerated since 1990.

According to a European study published in January, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet will contribute to the overall sea level rise of 10 to 18 centimeters by 2100, 60% faster than the previous estimate.

The Greenland ice sheet contains enough of it to raise the oceans 6 to 7 meters.

Due to a relatively cool start to the summer with snowfall and rain, the retreat of the ice sheet in 2021 is still within the historical average, according to Polar Portal.

The thaw period extends from June to early September.

With information from AFP

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