Greenland’s Petermann Glacier is melting faster than expected: Study

A large glacier in northwest Greenland is melting at a rapid rate This could mean more global sea level rise than previously thought. A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesNASA and University of California Irvine researchers explained Petermann Glaciers contacts Ocean waves are caused by increasing warming Glacier retreat faster than As noted earlier.

Scientists used satellite images to observe the ice and observed that the Petermann glacier moved around in response to ocean tides. The base line of a glacier, where the ice stops touching the ground bed and floats, changed with waves. From 2017 to 2022, the researchers observed a retreat of 1.6 kilometers (.9 miles) on the west side of the glacier and 3.7 kilometers (2.2 miles) on the center of the glacier. The movement and heat waves melted a large crater 204 meters (670 ft) high at the base of the glacier.

If those ocean connections continue, it could mean sea level rise due to melting glaciers will happen faster than scientists previously thought. This is particularly dangerous because current global warming models must be adjusted to include how melting found in glaciated subterranean zones could contribute to sea level rise. The process can create a loop: Warming oceans cause glaciers to melt, causing sea levels to rise Melting.

„These ice-sea interactions make glaciers more sensitive to ocean warming,” said Eric Rignot, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. In a statement. „These dynamics are not included in the models, and if we included them, it would increase predictions of sea-level rise by up to 200 percent — not just for Petermann, but for all the glaciers that end up in the ocean, much of northern Greenland. And all of Antarctica.”

„The Greenland Ice Sheet has lost billions of tons of ice to the oceans over the past few decades,” which has raised sea levels by 14 millimeters (.5 inches) since the early 1970s, the findings are alarming, study researchers say. And Ocean temperatures have increased over time, warming water creates conditions that destroy glaciers even faster. Already rapid sea-level rise is threatening coastal cities around the world.

For some parts of the United States, rapid sea-level rise has led to states like Texas Louisiana struggles with erosion. Sea level rise More meaningful Floods and royal tides to Florida in the future. More specifically – iRising floods have also disrupted the state’s real estate market, as homeowners can see Property values ​​decline more time.

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