Greenland’s melting ice sheets will contribute to rising sea levels if global temperatures continue to rise, scientists believe. The startling claim comes from a study published on January 21 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Climate change researchers at The Ohio State University, US, now fear Greenland’s ice is melting at rates four-times faster than in 2003. According to Michael Bevis, lead author of the paper, iceberg-sized chunks of ice are breaking off at a worrying rate in the southeast and northwest of the icy landmass.
The blocks of ice then trail off and melt into the Atlantic, contributing to the rise of sea levels.
As a result, the climate scientist has warned “we’re going to see faster and faster sea level rise for the foreseeable future”.
In the study, titled Accelerating changes in ice mass within Greenland, and the ice sheet’s sensitivity to atmospheric forcing, researchers have found streams of water are now pouring out from Southwest Greenland.
Southwest Greenland is largely devoid of glaciers, suggesting surface ice from further inland has begun to melt.
The study also found between 2003 and 2013, Greenland suffered the biggest sustained loss of ice in this region.
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Dr Bevis said in a statement: “We knew we had one big problem with increasing rates of ice discharge by some large outlet glaciers.
“But now we recognise a second serious problem: Increasingly, large amounts of ice mass are going to leave as meltwater, as rivers that flow into the sea.”
The increasing flow of melting ice could have a catastrophic impact on coastal communities around the globe.
Cities like New York and Miami will bear the brunt of the damage but island nations will be particularly vulnerable to the damage.
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Dr Bevis said: “The only thing we can do is adapt and mitigate further global warming – it’s too late for there to be no effect.
“This is going to cause additional sea level rise. We are watching the ice sheet hit a tipping point.”
The scientific consensus on climate change is nations have to stop global warming by just 1.5C and limit the emission of greenhouse gases.
A report issued by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018 warned humanity has 12 years to limit the effects of climate change before irreversible catastrophe strikes.
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Data collected by NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) suggests Greenland lost an approximate 280 gigatons of water a year between 2002 and 2016.
The imposing figure translates to roughly 0.03 inches of sea level rise per year.
NASA said: “Data from the GRACE satellites show that ice sheets in both Antarctica and Greenland are losing mass.
“The continent of Antarctica has been losing about 118 gigatons of ice per year since 2002, while the Greenland ice sheet has been losing an estimated 281 gigatons per year. One gigaton equals a billion metric tons.”