The ice sheet of Greenland melts very quickly

2009/11/17 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Ingurumena

For many, the Greenland ice sheet is known to melt. But, how much and why does it melt? According to an article published in the journal Science, this ice sheet has lost 1,500 gigaons since 2000. This means an annual average sea level increase of 0.46 mm since then. Between 2006 and 2008 the sea level has grown notably: 0.75 mm annual.

All these measures have been carried out by two methods. On the one hand, they have observed the movements of the ice sheet and, on the other, they have measured the mass of this ice layer from the gravity measurements made by the American satellites GRACE. However, similar results have been obtained in both methods. In addition, it has been concluded that this loss of the ice layer is due to superficial processes such as thawing and freezing, as well as movements of the ice layer.

Image: Image: Steve Morgan Steve Morgan