Nature Communications, April 20
Surface meltwater run-off currently dominates ice mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Porous layers of multi-year snow can instead absorb this meltwater, slowing and limiting runoff and mass loss. However, thick layers of ice, such as ice slabs, can develop and restrict the snow’s ability to retain meltwater, with greater run-off and potentially, mass loss the result. Recent observations suggest these ice slabs can develop rapidly during extreme melt seasons, such as witnessed during the abnormally warm period in summer 2012, when the entire ice sheet experienced melt conditions. The resulting layers of ice reached nearly 700 m higher in elevation, and 160 km further inland than ever observed previously. With increased frequency of such extreme melt seasons under additional global warming, formation of these ice slabs may therefore speed run-off and ice mass loss from Greenland at greater rates than projected.
https://tc.copernicus.org/
Compiled by Amy Imdieke
Nature Communications, 29 May 2026 The soils of Arctic river deltas store large amounts of…
Scientific Reports, 27 May 2026 Rising global temperatures increase the exposure of communities and infrastructure…
Global Environmental Change, 20 May 2026 In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, reducing greenhouse gas emissions could…
Nature Sustainability, 4 May 2026 Sediment records from the Last Inter-Glacial (LIG) period suggest that…
NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, 20 May 2026 Human-caused warming has been the primary driver…
Nature Communications, 27 May 2026 Sudden drainage of meltwater lakes through water-filled fractures can locally…