Researchers reveal that North Greenland’s ice shelves have lost over one-third of their volume since 1978, mainly due to rising ocean temperatures. This loss threatens their role as natural barriers against ice discharge into the ocean, potentially accelerating sea level rise.
A new study shows the largest floating ice shelves in North Greenland have lost more than a third of their volume since 1978, largely due to warming ocean temperatures. This melting poses a risk to their crucial role in limiting ice flow into the ocean, impacting sea level rise.
The largest floating ice shelves in the polar ice sheet have lost more than a third of their volume since 1978. In a study published on November 7 in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the CNRS,[1] alongside their Danish and American colleagues, have established that most of this thinning is due to the rise in surrounding ocean temperatures, which causes the glaciers’ floating extensions to melt. Until now, the glaciers in this region were considered to be stable, unlike more sensitive areas of the polar ice cap, which began to weaken in the mid-1980s.
The Zachariæ Isstrøm glacier in 2016, discharging several kilometer-long icebergs into the ocean. The melting of platforms in North Greenland could make a significant contribution to rising sea levels. Credit: © Romain Millan
Located in North Greenland, these ice shelves play an essential role in regulating the amount of ice discharged into the ocean by acting as huge frozen “dams.” Although Greenland is already responsible for 17% of the current rise in sea levels, any weakening of these barriers could lead to an increase in the amount of ice released, accelerating further rises in the water level.
These results were obtained using field observations, aerial photography, and satellite data, combined with regional climate models.
Notes
- Working at the Institut des géosciences de l’environnement (CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes/IRD/Inrae/Grenoble INP).
Reference: “Rapid disintegration and weakening of ice shelves in North Greenland” by R. Millan, E. Jager, J. Mouginot, M. H. Wood, S. H. Larsen, P. Mathiot, N. C. Jourdain and A. Bjørk, 7 November 2023, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42198-2
