Greenland Melting
One tenth of the world’s fresh water is stored in the ice cap resting on top of Greenland. There’s so much water stored there that if it all melts, the world’s oceans will rise 23 feet. So, if you want to still get around New York City and London, either start breaking out the sandbags or ordering a lot of gondolas…
Recently, what sounds like thunder in Greenland is actually the sound of huge, cracking ice, as Greenland’s massive cap of frozen water is melting away faster than scientists thought possible.
Enough ice has already melted to expose a new island, dubbed Warming Island, that was previously buried beneath the ice cap.
Greenland’s Expanding Melt Zone
Because global warming occurs faster near the polar regions than near the equator, the effects in Arctic Greenland are much more obvious than most places on earth. But once the ocean levels rise significantly, that may change.
Greenland’s melt zone has expanded 30 percent in the last 30 years, and in the past 15 years, average winter temperatures have risen by 9 degrees.
The more the surface of Greenland’s ice cap melts, the faster the ice sheet slides towards the ocean. Twelve years ago, the glacier where the Swiss Camp research station is located was moving 4.5 miles per year. Now it’s moving toward the ocean at 9 miles a year.
Although a warmer Greenland may flood New York and shut down ocean currents that provide Western Europe’s mild winters, there is a bright side: Greenland’s once frozen-solid harbors are now ice-free year round, so tourism is booming, and the fishing is great!
Read More: Greenland, global warming, climate change
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June 7th, 2007 at 10:32 am
And Shrub still acts as an impediment to action on global warming.
Bush: Putting the Green Back in Greenland.
June 7th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
hmmmm…
I wonder if some google earth types have already created a map of the world sunk 23 feet deeper under water?
My favorite places in mexico, california, argentina, and chile are toast, but I guess the Alps will be fine (dryer, instead of underwater).
June 7th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Might be a good time to get a surveyor’s map and start buying “future” beachfront property?
June 8th, 2007 at 10:01 am
The aquarium in Charleston (way cool, by the way) has a map feature that reveals the Carolina coastline at different points in history. Far in the past (60 million years or so if I recall) Columbia was under the ocean.
June 8th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
They should have named that island, “Exxon Mobile Island.”
June 9th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
There is a glacier in Bolivia that is melting. The residents of this area depend on it for water. Scientists think they have about 12 months of water left.