Rapid Greenland Ice Loss Fuels Climate Change Crisis

Greenland Ice Sheet Cracking Faster Than Ever, Worsening Climate Crisis.
According to a new study published on February 3 in Nature Geoscience, the Greenland Ice Sheet is breaking at a pace that has never been witnessed before, thereby fueling climate change. Conducted by researchers at Durham University in the UK, a high-resolution satellite imagery analysis of over 8,000 3D surface maps found that the size and depth of crevasses had grown remarkably between 2016 and 2021.
Rapid expansion of crevasse growth and melting of ice from glaciers

In some places where ice is more freely moving, these crevasses are being described as the kind of deep and widening cracks, while this increases the cracks responsible for quicker-moving glaciers; these increase loss at Greenland Ice. The authors revealed that at places, it is observed to be increased in 25 percent for crevassed volume over there, showing 4.3 percent for an overall increase netted ice during the observation time.
This rise in cracking is directly related to climate change, since warmer air temperatures and rising ocean temperatures cause ice melt and glacier movement. Sermeq Kujalleq, Greenland's fastest-moving glacier, also slowed temporarily during the research period, balancing some of the overall crevasse growth. However, its movement has increased again since then, which means this period of stability is over.

Sea Level Rise

Already, this ice sheet has already contributed about 14 mm of global sea level rise since 1992 due to the melting of ice and glacier flows into the ocean. Once completely melted, this ice sheet will give the extra height needed to raise global sea levels by almost 7 meters (23 feet). Current projections already forecast that by 2100, Greenland alone will add possibly up to 30 cm, or one foot, to sea level rise.
The research went on to reveal that the deeper a crevasse, the faster it supports processes which enhance speeding ice sheet movement. It subsequently removes more icebergs from entering the ocean and destabilizes the ice sheet even more. Further loss of ice from Greenland fuels the greater climate crisis, increasing the dangers of sea rise, coastal erosion, and severe weather patterns.

Future Predictions and Climate Models

Researchers hope that this study will provide a basis to improve climate models by including effects of crevasse expansion and ice damage into future predictions about the loss of ice in Greenland. These are critical mechanisms toward accurate forecasting of global sea level rise and the preparation for consequences.

Sources: Nature Geoscience