For the past years, a significant rise in sea level was attributed to melting glaciers caused by climate change. The ice sheet of Greenland is said to lose about 270 billion tons of ice each year. From 1992 to 2011, Greenland has raised the sea level all over the world by 7.2 millimeters.
The rising sea levels have caused some changes in the behavior of both marine life and coastal wildlife. In fact, it has caused the extinction of one rodent species that used to populate a low cliff in Australia.
One of the most iconic glaciers in Greenland has been shrinking for the past 20 years. in 2012, it has been recorded to thin at 130 feet per year and has retreated for about 1.8 miles. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has stated that Jakobshavn, also known as the Ilulissat glacier, is the fastest flowing and fastest thinning glacier, making it one of Earth's ticking time bombs.
However, two years ago, the 110,000-square-kilometer glacier has started gaining and growing again as reported by NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) project in Monday's issue of Nature Geoscience.
Josh Willis, the lead scientist for OMG and co-author of the published study, explained that the previous theory where there is no stopping once glaciers started retreating, has now been proven to be wrong.
The significant growth of the glacier has been equated to the reversal of its two-decade-long retreat. Ilulissat Icefjord, where Jakobshavn is located, is being fed by the waters of Disko Bay which currently has cooler ocean water because of the said long retreat of the glacier.
In recent years, records have shown that water in certain depths is cooler by 3.6 degrees Celcius because of natural ocean cycles. This has prompted a new conclusion where the changes in ocean temperature have a more significant impact as it can cause a glacier to melt and grow.
Willis pointed out that growing glaciers do not mean there is good news on the global warming front. Instead, the scientist warns that the future rise in sea level would be even higher than predicted.
Another study has reported that Greenlandic ice is highly sensitive to higher temperature and that glaciers are melting all throughout the area.
The growth of Jakobshavn is an isolated behavior. Other glaciers in the area are not expected to exhibit growth and are continuing to thin. Greenland has been said to have the capacity to submerge metropolitan areas.
