Startling before and after satellite images reveal the extensive melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the hottest month ever recorded. The June 14 image captured by a US satellite displays the ice sheet before the onset of scorching summer temperatures. Conversely, the July 24 image exhibits significantly diminished snow cover and areas of 'dirty' ice due to exposed impurities.
Scientists explain that snowfall typically safeguards the glacier ice beneath during summer, but rising temperatures are reducing snow cover, making the ice more susceptible to melting and contributing to rising sea levels, as experts warn.
An aerial view of icebergs and ice sheet in the Baffin Bay near Pituffik, Greenland on July 19, 2022 as captured on a NASA Gulfstream V plane while on an airborne mission to measure melting Arctic sea ice.
Summer 2023 Causing Substantial Melting on Greenland Ice Sheet
During the 2023 melting season, Greenland's snow cover underwent a significant transformation, with above-average melting observed throughout most of the season. As per the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the Greenland Ice Sheet's surface, covering an area equivalent to 800,000 square kilometers, experienced melting on multiple occasions in June and July of up to 50%.
On June 14, 2023, the Landsat 8 satellite captured an image of Frederikshåb Glacier in southwest Greenland, depicting the glacier's downward flow from the Greenland Ice Sheet, winding through valleys and nunataks before flattening along the coast.
A follow-up image taken on July 24, after more than a month of additional melting, showed a dramatic reduction in the extent of bright surface snow, indicating substantial ice loss.
According to SciTech Daily, scientists have been benefiting from more frequent and detailed views from Landsat 9 since September 2021 when it joined Landsat 8 in orbit of Earth, acquiring approximately 1,500 scenes daily. This extensive coverage aids in monitoring Earth's icy regions, where seasonal changes can be rapid and dramatic.
While the 2023 melting season's daily melt area spikes have remained below those of the exceptionally widespread melting observed in 2012, daily melt extents have consistently surpassed the 1981-2010 average by mid-July. The current year's melt is on par with other high-melt years in recent decades, though it may not surpass the unprecedented melt witnessed in 2012.
Glaciologist Christopher Shuman from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, describes 2023 as a significant year with broad melting trends.
Inflow of Warm Atlantic Water Accelerates Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet
Greenland's Nioghalvfjerdsbrae glacier has been a focus of a new study on the effects of climate change, as the ice sheet has been melting at an accelerated rate, contributing to a 1.4 mm/year rise in sea level.
Using remote sensing, airborne, and ground-level measurements, Dr. Ole Zeising and his team discovered that the ice tongue has experienced a 42% thinning since 1998, with an average ice thickness loss of 38 meters since 2018. Phys.org reported that this melting is linked to rising ocean temperatures, which are introducing warmer currents to the region, resulting in accelerated melting and glacier retreat.
Since 2010, research has shown that a subglacial channel, nourished by warm Atlantic intermediate water, has eroded the base of the glacier, leading to intensified melting and the creation of distributary subglacial channels. As a consequence of this subglacial melting, the glacier's surface has been lowering at a rate of 7.6 meters per year, and during summer, meltwater has been flowing rapidly at 150 meters per year.
Warmer atmospheric temperatures from global warming also contribute to increased summer melting, leading to cracks forming at the glacier's calving front, potentially exacerbating glacier retreat.
As climate change persists, the melting of ice sheets and the effects of warmer oceans will have significant consequences for the polar regions and their ecosystems.
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