Greenland Ice Loss Rate On Track to Exceed Holocene (End of Last Ice Age)

Nature, September 30

Between 2000-2018, the Greenland Ice Sheet lost ice mass at the rate of 6100 billion tons of ice per century, exceeding the maximum rates at the end of the last Ice Age (the Holocene) 12,000 years ago, at 6000 billion tons/century. Under high-emissions scenarios, Greenland could lose up to 35,900 billion tonnes of ice this century, equivalent to nearly 10 cm of global sea-level rise.  This is a six-fold increase from the highest loss rates reconstructed by this study over the past 12,000 years. Under a low emissions scenario, ice loss will still grow, but remain around 10,000 billion tons over the course of the century. The authors conclude that reductions in carbon emissions, consistent with the 1.5°C Paris limit are crucial to hold sea-level rise from Greenland to more manageable levels.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2742-6

Compiled by Amy Imdieke.