ICE SHEET IN GREENLAND CONTINUE TO MELT
Research has shown that the ice sheet in Greenland is continuing to melt. This year marks the 25th consecutive year where the ice sheet in Greenland has lost more mass than it gained in the winter. This was confirmed in the research conducted by the UN.
The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering 1,710,000 square kilometres, roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic ice sheet. The ice sheet, consisting of layers of compressed snow from more than 100,000 years, contains in its ice today's most valuable record of past climates.
The UN report reveals that due to the heatwave in July, even after the delated melting season, the ice sheet continues to loose mass. In total, the study estimates 166 billion tonnes of ice was lost during a 12-month period ending in August 2021.
Warming levels last year led to rainfall at Summit Station, which is 3,200 metres above sea level, and an acceleration in the loss of ice in areas that had been stagnant for many years.The report claims that the extremely cold weather in the US is caused by the heating of the Arctic. The authors have linked what they call a ‘stratospheric polar vortex disruption’ (SPV), or the heating in the Arctic disturbing patterns of wind, to periods of extreme cold in the northern hemisphere.