Greenland has lost more ice than previously thought

Source: This post is based on the article “Greenland has lost more ice than previously thought: study” published in “The Hindu” on 18th January 2024.

Why in News?

According to recent research based on satellite imagery climate change has caused Greenland’s ice sheet to lose 20% more ice than previously imagined.

How was the study conducted?

Researchers in the United States gathered almost 240,000 satellite images depicting glacier terminus positions from 1985 to 2022.

What are the findings?

Note: Glacier terminus position is a position where glaciers meet the ocean.

1) Nearly every glacier in Greenland has thinned or retreated over the past few decades.

2) As per findings, over 1,000 gigatons (1 gigaton is equivalent to 1 billion tons), or 20%, of ice around the edges of Greenland had been lost over the past four decades and not been accounted for.

3) Although the direct impact on sea level rise is minimal, it could herald further overall ice melt, allowing glaciers to more easily slip towards the sea.

4) Greenland glaciers are most susceptible to seasonal changes. It is expanding in winter and retreating in summer.

5) They are also the most sensitive to the impact of global warming and experienced the most significant retreat since 1985.

6) The melting of Greenland’s enormous ice sheet is believed to have contributed over 20% to the observed rise in sea levels since 2002.

Note: Greenland’s ice sheet is the second-largest body of ice in the world after Antarctica.

What is Greenland Glacier?

1)  The Greenland Ice Sheet covers about 80 percent of the world’s largest island, stretching across 1.7 million square kilometers (656,000 square miles).

2) It stands as the largest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere and is second in size to the ice mass that covers Antarctica.

2) The ice sheet is made up of layers of snow that have compressed over thousands of years.

3) At its thickest point, the ice sheet is over 1.9 miles thick and contains about 696,000 cubic miles of ice.

4) If the entire ice sheet melted, sea levels would rise by about 24 feet.

UPSC Syllabus: Environment