Greenland ice melting in 2010 facts

The year 2010 was the warmest year on record, and Greenland being one of the most sensitive areas to increased temperatures, certainly felt the effects of that by having 50 days longer melting period in many areas, from the end of April till the mid September.

2010 summer temperatures in Greenland were 3C above the average, and this is the main reason why Greenland experienced this prolonged period of melting.

This year, the largest city in Greenland, Nuuk, experienced the warmest spring and summer in history since the measurements began in 1873.

Greenland ice melting is one of the main contributing factors to global sea level rise, and there is large number of scientists such as WWF climate specialist Dr. Martin Sommerkorn who believe that sea levels will rise by more than 1 meter till the end of this century. Scientists have calculated that Greenland ice melt currently contributes to global sea level rise at about .02 inches a year, but the potential impact is enormous.

According to the Marco Tedesco, director of the Cryospheric Processes Laboratory at The City College of New York, in 2010 an area of the size of France melted in Greenland.

Greenland has about one-twentieth of the world's total ice, and if all of this ice were to melt this would cause 21 feet of global sea rise.

Despite the record ice melting in 2010, it is estimated that the scenario in which Greenland would lose all its ice would take at least few centuries to be completed. However, once rapid melting starts (and it certainly looks like this process has already started) it is extremely difficult to reverse it, and this is one of the main reasons why world leaders should finally agree new climate deal which would limit greenhouse gas production. This is really world's only chance to stop further ice melting at Greenland.

Greenland sea level rise is big threat to U.S.?

What's Greenland got to do with good old Uncle Sam? Nothing at the moment but current rapid ice melting in Greenland could cause serious sea levels rise across the U.S. northeast coast in years to come. If Greenland continues its current melting trend by the end of this century sea level rise on northeast cost would be significantly bigger than for the rest of our planet, posing significant threat to major U.S. cities like New York and Boston.

So how big could this sea level rise be? Scientists say it could even rise by 12 to 20 inches more (half meter more) than other coastal areas because major northeastern cities are directly in the path of the greatest sea level rise. Such high sea level rise would of course cause extreme flooding but flooding would be only one of the problems. Such big sea level rise would also cause tremendous damage to environment because salty water from ocean would enter river deltas. This scenario would not only create huge loss in biodiversity but also major economic damage.

Greenland ice melting has already reached alarming level, and unless we do something about global warming this horror scenario will turn into reality by the end of this century. In the last ten years Greenland's ice-melt rate has been steadily growing by 7 percent each year, and this trend will continue to happen without major greenhouse gas cuts.

It still remains to be seen whether world leaders have learned something from science in the past couple of years. It will be really interesting to see how far is world ready to go to stop global warming and climate change. Many politicians still think they have all the time in the world to deal with global warming, and many believe that global warming isn't so serious as science warns us it is. Politics and environment do not get along quite often so I'm really not expecting miracles later this year in Copenhagen.

Lead author of this study was Aixie Hu, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

Northern Greenland not immune to global warming

Until recently many scientists believed that northern Greenland is immune to global warming but this proved to be wrong as the latest satellite images showed a growing giant crack and an 11-square-mile chunk of ice hemorrhaging off a major glacier. This crack is crack is 7 miles long and about half a mile wide, and as Jason Box, a glacier expert at the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University said: " "This crack is moving, and moving closer and closer to the front. It's just a matter of time till a much larger piece is going to break off .... It is imminent."

Southern Greenland already experienced major melting of the ice, and the northern Greenland that looked to be immune to global warming is now having the same problem as global warming phenomenon is now occurring further and further north. This situation will speed up already rapid sea level rise, adding even more negative impact to global climate change.

Many scientists believe this is because of the global warming, and very small number of them thinks (hopes) that this is part of the normal glacier stress. It is difficult to remain optimistic and say that this is the result of the normal glacial stress while this condition has the same pattern of melting glacial ice that was first noticed in the southern part of the massive island and what seems to be marching north as time goes by.

Northern Greenland is not immune to global warming as this gigantic 7 miles long and about half a mile wide crack clearly demonstrates.