Greenland's fastest-melting glacier is growing again
- 5 years ago
ILULISSAT, GREENLAND — A study has found that Greenland's fastest-thinning glacier is growing again, but scientists say that it may just be temporary.
According to NASA JPL, the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland has been thinning and retreating over the last 20 years.
But research published in Nature Geoscience has found that since 2016, the glacier's melting has slowed.
NASA reports that it also grew taller by 100 feet between 2016 and 2017.
Researchers suspected that this was due to a climate pattern known as the North Atlantic Oscillation, which cools then warm the North Atlantic Ocean every five to 20 years. In 2016, the water temperature in Disko Bay cooled, reaching temperatures that were lower than in the late 1980s.
The team used an ocean model to trace the cool water to a current that carries water around Greenland's southern tip, and northward along its west coast.
The Associated Press reports that according to study co-author and NASA climate scientist Josh Willis, the findings indicate that glacier retreats and advances are much more sensitive to ocean temperatures than previously thought.
Temperatures are still rising slowly from global warming, and with over 90 percent of heat trapped by greenhouse gases going to the oceans, melting will be worse in the long run.
According to NASA JPL, the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland has been thinning and retreating over the last 20 years.
But research published in Nature Geoscience has found that since 2016, the glacier's melting has slowed.
NASA reports that it also grew taller by 100 feet between 2016 and 2017.
Researchers suspected that this was due to a climate pattern known as the North Atlantic Oscillation, which cools then warm the North Atlantic Ocean every five to 20 years. In 2016, the water temperature in Disko Bay cooled, reaching temperatures that were lower than in the late 1980s.
The team used an ocean model to trace the cool water to a current that carries water around Greenland's southern tip, and northward along its west coast.
The Associated Press reports that according to study co-author and NASA climate scientist Josh Willis, the findings indicate that glacier retreats and advances are much more sensitive to ocean temperatures than previously thought.
Temperatures are still rising slowly from global warming, and with over 90 percent of heat trapped by greenhouse gases going to the oceans, melting will be worse in the long run.