Previously unknown interaction between ice and sea observed
Climate researchers are largely in agreement about the consequences of global warming – dramatic global developments are imminent if there is no quick change. What the world can expect in detail if man-made climate change is not stopped is the subject of countless research projects. Researchers from the University of California and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have now observed a previously unknown interaction between ice and the sea while studying the Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland.
The conclusion of the glaciologists: The results could indicate that scientists have so far “substantially underestimated” how the retreat of the polar ice affects the rise in sea levels. This finding is based on evaluations of satellite radar data of the base line – i.e. exactly the area where the ice of the glacier detaches itself from the mainland and begins to swim. As the team writes, an extreme shift of this line could be observed during the tidal cycle.
Sea level rise underestimated by up to 200 percent
“Petermann’s baseline is more like a base zone because it moves between 2 and 6 kilometers as the tides come in and out,” according to lead author Enrico Ciraci, UCI Assistant Specialist in Earth System Science and NASA postdoctoral researcher physics. “This is an order of magnitude larger than (…) expected.” However, it is precisely this dynamic that is not taken into account in current models.
According to Ciraci, the results of his team can be applied to almost all glaciers that flow into the ocean – that includes the ice ridges of northern Greenland and all of Antarctica. In their article, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists provide a clear calculation: the forecasts for sea level rise have underestimated it by up to 200 percent.
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