Greenland glacier's summer slide faster
Source: Agencies |
May 11, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A GREENLAND glacier slides up to 220 percent faster toward the sea in summer than in winter and global warming could mean a wider acceleration that would raise sea levels, according to a study published on Sunday.
A group of experts led by Ian Bartholomew from Edinburgh University said the variability was much stronger than earlier observations of glacier movement in Greenland.
The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, will improve understanding of the world's second biggest ice sheet behind Antarctica. Greenland has enough ice to raise world sea levels by about 7 meters if it all melted.
The study said GPS satellite measurements along 35 kilometers of the glacier in south-west Greenland, showed that the ice in some places slid at 300 meters per year at peak summer rates.
"Our measurements reveal substantial increases in ice velocity during summer, up to 220 percent above winter background values," it said.
The scientists would not speculate if the change in speed between summer and winter was part of natural shifts or was influenced by a changing climate.
But they wrote: "In a warming climate, with longer and more intense summer melt seasons ... a larger portion of the ice sheet will experience summer velocity changes."
A group of experts led by Ian Bartholomew from Edinburgh University said the variability was much stronger than earlier observations of glacier movement in Greenland.
The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, will improve understanding of the world's second biggest ice sheet behind Antarctica. Greenland has enough ice to raise world sea levels by about 7 meters if it all melted.
The study said GPS satellite measurements along 35 kilometers of the glacier in south-west Greenland, showed that the ice in some places slid at 300 meters per year at peak summer rates.
"Our measurements reveal substantial increases in ice velocity during summer, up to 220 percent above winter background values," it said.
The scientists would not speculate if the change in speed between summer and winter was part of natural shifts or was influenced by a changing climate.
But they wrote: "In a warming climate, with longer and more intense summer melt seasons ... a larger portion of the ice sheet will experience summer velocity changes."
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