Categories: Kryosfärkapslar

Past Arctic Warming Reveals Greenland Ice Vulnerability at Low Temperature Thresholds

Nature Geoscience, 24 November 2025

The Prudhoe Dome ice cap in northern Greenland completely melted 7,000 years ago and was ice-free until a few thousand years ago, indicating that parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet disappeared when global mean temperatures were actually cooler than today (about 0.3°C cooler than the 2011-19 average, according to IPCC AR6). However, parts of the Arctic were much warmer than the global average, with this part of Greenland perhaps 3-5°C warmer than today, especially in summer months. These same temperatures will likely occur again in the Arctic by 2100 unless strong emissions reductions take place. The discovery that this 500-meter thick ice cap spanning 2,500 km2 vanished at relatively lower temperatures raises the alarm that similar loss could occur in the near future, since the Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average. This study indicates that the Greenland ice sheet is highly sensitive to relatively small increases in temperature.

Papper | Summary by the University of Buffalo | Nyhetsbevakning

Pam Pearson

Recent Posts

Lakes at the Edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet Increase Ice Loss, Sea-level Rise

Nature Communications, 1 April 2026 A growing network of meltwater lakes along the edge of…

5 dagar ago

Arctic River Rusting Driven by Iron Release from Permafrost Thaw

Nature Communications, 6 April 2026 Arctic warming increases the amount of iron draining out of…

5 dagar ago

Northern Arctic Vegetation Takes Decades to Recover Following Abrupt Permafrost Thaw

Nature Climate Change, 30 March 2026 Rising temperatures increase the frequency of retrogressive thaw slumps…

5 dagar ago

Only Low Emissions Scenarios Slow Growth in Antarctic Surface Melt

Nature Communications, 30 March 2026 Surface melting in Antarctica is projected to increase this century,…

5 dagar ago

COP30 Video of the Week: Monitoring Global Permafrost Thaw and Climate Feedbacks

Permafrost is a critical component of the global climate system because its thaw releases vast…

5 dagar ago

Shutdown of AMOC Could Release Ocean Carbon, Increasing Global Warming

Communications Earth & Environment, 27 March 2026 The potential collapse of the major system of…

1 vecka ago