Climate Change: Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet has doubled

The Greenland Ice Sheet is shrinking at a high rate, according to a new study. The vast body of ice has lost approximately 9,013 gigatonnes ice in last 110 years and the shrinking rate is increasing rapidly, it added.

The study published in the journal Nature also suggested that from 2003 to 2010, ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet has been removed at a rate over twice the rate during the entire 20th century.

To collect information on the ice sheet’s mass loss, researchers have been using satellite data from last more than two decades. They believe that the outcomes may help them in knowing the effects of global warming and rising ocean levels.

Author of the study said, “The response of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) to changes in temperature during the twentieth century remains contentious. Largely owing to difficulties in estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of ice mass changes before 1992, when Greenland-wide observations first became available”.

The researchers also observed many black-and-white photos that were captured before 1990 of the region. Then, they compared the region current ice with its mass during Little Ice Age. According to the researchers, the study results not only calculated total mass loss of the entire ice, but also showed changes in the region.

The researchers found that the loss of ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1900 to 2010 has contributed more than 10% to the world’s sea-level rise. They also found that the ice shrinking has accelerated since at least the 1950s.