Ground-based measuring devices and aircraft radar operated in the far northeast of Greenland show how much ice the 79° N-Glacier is losing. According to measurements conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute, the thickness of the glacier has decreased by more than 160 meters since 1998. Warm ocean water flowing under the glacier tongue is melting the ice from below.

According to measurements conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute, the thickness of the glacier has decreased by more than 160 meters since 1998.

  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    3 months ago

    Beyond just the thermal mass represented by glaciers and ice sheets, the ice also has much higher albedo than sea and land. Without the white snow and ice reflecting sunlight back into space, more is absorbed by the Earth as heat.