WASHINGTON -- Greenland glaciers were known to be the fastest ice ever to shrink on the face of the earth. But NASA studies find it otherwise. Their most recent report shows that a major Greenland glacier is growing again and it brings nothing less than a good surprise.
The Jakobshavn glacier was already retreating in 2012 for about 1.8 miles. Annually, it was thinning at a range of about 130 feet. But the good news is that it is starting to show growth again and its growth has been significant in the last two years. According to a study that was published in Nature Geoscience, the growing meant good news for everyone.
"It was a surprise, but a good kind of surprise. Though everyone has been used to seeing the runaway system work, this growth actually shows some promise that the world can be saved," said Jason Box, the head of the Geological Survey conducted in Denmark and Greenland ice. "It is a gentle reminder that the efforts people put into reducing hazardous waste that goes into the environment are working. It is not going at a very fast rate, but it is getting there."
Jakobshavn is considered as one of the most important glaciers in the Greenland Glaciers because it produces the most ice in the northern hemisphere. In fact, it is considered as the kind for those in Greenland.
The North Atlantic waters go through the natural process of cooling. "This process of cooking might be the reason why the glacier has finally reversed its course and started producing more ice," said Ala Khazenzar, a glaciologist of NASA that led the study on Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) Project. The results of their study reveal that the change coincides with the North Atlantic Oscillation. This is the process when the ocean finds a temporary balance between warming and cooling. Such is much like the El Nino the countries in the Pacific are experiencing.
While this may seem to be good news, this could also mean a bit of bad news when you look at it on a long term basis, it clearly tells scientists that the temperatures of the ocean play a huge role in the retreat and advances of the glaciers. Josh Willis, a NASA climate scientist, has been studying about the water in the ocean warms up as caused by man-made climate change. He further said that almost 90% of the heat is trapped by greenhouse gases into the oceans.
"In the long run, people might have to rethink about how we measure the level of the ocean and how it rises every year," said Josh Willis.
To a large extent, this may just be a temporary blip. But such a change could bring about bigger changes that could affect how people live. Overall, it gives people a chance to stop and breathe a little, before they go back to doing what they do to save mother earth.
