The mass of ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet has begun to
decline. From 1979 to 2006, summer melt on the ice sheet increased by 30
percent, reaching a new record in 2007. At higher elevations, an increase in
winter snow accumulation has partially offset the melt. However, the decline
continues to outpace accumulation because warmer temperatures have led to
increased melt and faster glacier movement at the island's edges. In April 2002
the Greenland ice sheet was covering approximately 1490.68 billion metric tons.
The rate of change is now -287 billion metric tons a year with the ice caps
losing -1911.78 billion tons since November 2014.
The evidence suggested by a multitude of different measurement techniques suggests that not only is Greenland losing ice but that these ice losses are accelerating at a rapid pace. Further evidence suggests that although ice losses have up to this point primarily occurred in the South and Southwest portions of Greenland, these losses are now spreading to the Northwest sector of the ice sheet. Although there have been some gains at high altitudes, significant ice losses are occurring at low altitudes along the coastline where glaciers are calving ice into the oceans far quicker than ice is being accumulated at the top of the ice sheet. |