GREENLAND´S ICE SHEET

Greenland is 80% shrouded by ice – a massive, frozen reservoir of fresh water that has existed for approximately 2.6 million years. The ice is replenished by snowfall, which has gradually compressed into what is now a 3000 meter-thick ice sheet. However, the ice is not a static, inanimate object. It is a dynamic, almost breathing entity, in constant flux and reaction to its surroundings, flowing from the interior to its edges, down the valleys like icy conveyor belts, pouring into fjords where it melts or breaks off as icebergs. The quantity of ice is so large that it is equivalent to 7.4 meters in depth, distributed over an area the size of the world’s oceans.
When the ice sheet was in balance, the amount of snow accumulating on the surface was equal to the ice lost at the edges and sub-surface melt. However, since the 1990’s, as the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans have warmed due to rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions, Greenland’s ice sheet has lost its equilibrium. Ice losses due to enhanced melt, rain, ice flow and calving now far exceed the net gain from snow accumulation.
The “Greenland’s Ice Sheet” Collection focuses on ocean-terminating glaciers, their history, patterns of movement and structure, and explores their fate under the influence of a warming climate. The Collection also addresses sea level rise as a consequence of the significant acceleration, retreat, and mass loss of these ocean-terminating glaciers.
Greenland’s ice loss has so far contributed approximately 1 mm per year to global sea level rise over the past decade. Even if all the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming ceased today, ice-loss in Greenland under current temperatures will still raise global sea level by at least 27.4 centimeters.
Sea level rise poses a serious threat to coastal life around the world. Consequences include erosion of beaches, inundation of deltas as well as flooding and loss of marshes and wetlands, increased intensity of storm surges, flooding, and damage to coastal aquifers as a result of saltwater intrusion. In many cases, in addition to fragile wildlife habitats, these coastal areas are where we live, in large numbers.
What happens in Greenland affects us globally.