Wednesday 12 October 2016

Ice Sheet Melting in Greenland

Greenland Is Melting 

When the great Laurentide Ice Sheet melted and dwindled into smaller caps, there were no scientists to analyze it! This happened nearly 11,000 years ago and uncovered a major part of North America (the land we see today). The LaurentideIce Sheet collapsed and spread across nations like Canada and Alaska. This raised the sea levels. No one saw these changes coming as the Northern Hemisphere became warmer, leading to its irreversible state of change.

Calving front of Equp Sermia glacier, West Greenland

Image credit: Michele Koppes, University of British Columbia

Recent Studies about Ice Sheets

Today, scientists are doing major studies on how these sheets covered Greenland. Why did these ice sheets survived when the Laurentide Ice Sheet failed is the main study. Scientists believe that there are many similarities between Greenland today and the Laurentide. This time, they are taking accurate measurements and possibly take efforts to make sure the ice sheets don’t melt like before.

These studies proved the presence of a serious melting on the top surface of the ice sheet. This is forming lakes and pools. Meanwhile, ice is melting and falling into open seas. Glaciers that grow from the center of them are collapsing into deep waters at a rapid pace. Yet, there is little data to reveal how quickly the meltdown would happen!

Were in a very bad State!

Researchers suspect this situation to be a very bad state of affairs (as the song goes). That is because excess water drainage can result in overflowing lakes and rivers. The volume of water in these lakes is likely to increase by 115 to 180 percent by the end of the next two decades. Indeed, the rate of increase depends on the amount of greenhouse gases released. Lakes are likely to grow not in the southern regions, but in the northeast borders. This is where more remote ice sheets are likely to melt and advance in the years to come.

 

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