At the high elevations of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the first decade of the 21st century was the warmest analyzed in about 1,000 years. From 2001 to 2011, the average temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century average. This means that global warming can also be detected in one of the most remote regions of the world.
A team led by Maria Hörhold of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) examined ice cores taken in northern and central Greenland. Using the stable water isotopes, scientists can see how high air temperatures were in the past. Because the time series evaluated only goes back to the year 1000, the researchers do not make any statements about the time before that. Scientists last examined ice cores from Greenland until 1995. “We hadn’t seen any warming then — unlike the rise in global temperatures,” Hörhold said.
In 2012, the ice cap was drilled again. The samples showed the warming “surprisingly clear”. The results of the ice core surveys conducted in 2019 are still pending.
Effects on meltwater runoff
The warming of the ice sheet also affects the discharge of meltwater to the ocean and thus the rise in sea levels. Satellite observations of the change in ice mass, which were not part of the study, show that from 2003 to 2016 annual meltwater runoff was twice as high as from 1961 to 1990.
The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest continuous inland ice mass after the Antarctic Ice Sheet, reaching a height of more than three kilometers. “Natural temperature fluctuations of half a degree to one degree are normal at higher altitudes,” said glaciologist Hörhold. The chance that the measured temperatures from 2001 to 2011 can be explained by natural fluctuations is almost zero. “This means that global warming has undoubtedly reached the Greenland plateau,” the researcher said in the journal Nature.
Source: Krone
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
