Climate change impacts in Greenland

Climate change impacts in Greenland - what the IPCC 4th Assessment Report has found:
  • Recent analysis of airborne data, satellite data and seismic data indicate thinning around the periphery of Greenland Ice Sheet, where summer melt has increased during the past 20 years, while there is evidence of slower rates of thickening much further inland [15.2.1].
  • Since the IPCC Third Assessment Report, increasing evidence has emerged indicating a more rapid disappearance of snow and sea-ice cover in some areas (e.g., Siberia, Alaska, the Greenland Sea), and consequent leading to further climate change (snow, ice and vegetation play vital roles in the global climate system, through albedo and insulation effects) [15.3.1]
  • For Greenland, the threshold for near-total deglaciation is estimated at 3.2-6.2oC local warming (1.9-4.6oC global warming) [].
 / ©: Tonje Folkestad
As pointed out in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, it is considered that if local warming over Greenland reaches 3 degrees C, the Ice Sheet may cross a threshold where melting will be accelerating and irreversible.
© Tonje Folkestad

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