Extreme and Erratic Melting Has Accelerated on Greenland Ice Sheet

Nature Communications, November 1

Meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased by 21% over the past forty years, and has also become 60% more erratic from one summer to the next. As global temperatures have risen, extreme melting events across this ice sheet are becoming more frequent and intense. For example, meltwater runoff from Greenland has increased global sea levels by one centimeter (equivalent to 3.5 trillion tons of water) within the last decade; but a third of this total was produced during just two hot summers: 2012 and 2019. Such record-breaking levels of ice loss increase the risk of flooding and threaten the stability of marine ecosystems worldwide. The flow of melting freshwater and ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet will only become more variable and intense as the planet warms and unless carbon emissions are reduced.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26229-4