Jakobshavn Glacier Suffers Major Ice Loss In Single Day
12.07.2010 - Water & Oceans, Ice & Snow, Arctic
Jakobshavn Glacier on the west coast of Greenland recently lost approximately 7 km2 of ice in a single day. The glacier, which broke up on July 6th and 7th, has pushed the contact point between the ocean and the ice sheet even further inland. The loss, researchers say, is part of a recent trend that began around the beginning of the decade.
The ice front had been retreating at a rate of 0.3 kilometers a year between 1850 and 1964, before accelerating to 3km/yr in 2001. The break-up adds proof to the theory that warming of the oceans is responsible for the observed ice loss throughout Greenland and Antarctica. A previous study from NASA in February reported that west Greenland's glaciers were melting 100 times faster at their end points beneath the ocean than at their surfaces, pointing to the impact warmer ocean waters is having.
Jakobshavn Glacier is Greenland’s largest outlet glacier, and the northern hemisphere’s single largest contributor to sea level rise. Draining 6.5 % of Greenland's ice sheet area, the ice stream's contribution to the ice flow has increased the rate of sea level rise by about 0.06 mm per year, or roughly 4 % of the 20th century’s rate of sea level rise.
