Greenland is melting: catastrophic consequences for the Earth are named

Ice loss creates 'feedback loop'

Greenland is getting greener. This could have huge consequences for the world. The extent of Greenland's ice melt over the past three decades is about 36 times the size of New York City — land that is rapidly giving way to wetlands and shrubland, a study released Tuesday shows.

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

The amount of vegetation in Greenland doubled between the mid-1980s and mid-2010s as parts of the country that were once covered in ice and snow became barren cliffs, wetlands or scrubland. Wetlands alone have quadrupled in size during this time, CNN notes.

After analyzing satellite imagery, scientists found that Greenland had lost 28,707 square kilometers of ice over a thirty-year period and warned of a cascade of impacts that could have serious consequences for climate change and sea level rise.

Rising air temperatures led to the loss of ice, which in turn increased land temperatures. This has caused the melting of permafrost, the frozen layer just below the Earth's surface that is found in much of the Arctic, and this melting releases carbon dioxide and methane that warm the planet, contributing to even greater global warming. Melting permafrost also causes soil instability, which can affect infrastructure and buildings.

“We have seen signs that ice loss is triggering other reactions that will lead to further ice loss and further greening.” Greenland, where melting ice exposes bare rocks that are then colonized by tundra and eventually shrubland, report co-author Jonathan Carrivick said in a press release. – At the same time, water released from the melting ice moves sediments and silt that eventually form wetlands and marshes.

The loss of ice creates a so-called feedback loop, CNN says. Snow and ice typically reflect solar energy back into space, preventing excessive heating in some parts of the Earth. But as ice melts, these areas absorb more solar energy, raising land surface temperatures, which can cause further melting and other negative effects.

Melting ice also increases the amount of water in lakes, where water absorbs more heat than snow, which increases the temperature of the land surface.

Greenland has warmed at twice the global average since the 1970s, and the study's authors warn that more extreme temperatures are possible in the future.

Greenland is the world's largest island and is mostly covered in ice and glaciers . The country, which is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, has a population of approximately 57,000 people. Much of the population is indigenous, and many people there rely on natural ecosystems for their survival.

Michael Grimes, lead author of the report, said the flow of sediment and nutrients into coastal waters was particularly problematic for communities indigenous peoples who rely on fishing, as well as for hunters in other parts of the island.

“These changes are critical, especially for the indigenous people, whose traditional hunting methods depend on the stability of these fragile ecosystems” , he said.

“Moreover, the loss of ice mass in Greenland is a significant contributor to global sea level rise, and this trend poses serious problems both now and in the future.”.