Global warming has upped Greenland glacier melting five-folds in 20 years

Scientists from University of Copenhagen said on Friday (November 10) that global warming has increased the speed of melting of Greenland glaciers fivefold in last 20 years. Greenland's ice cover is closely monitored because these ancient ice sheets contain so much water that if they were to melt completely, sea levels would rise by at least 20 feet.

Anders Anker Bjork, who is assistant professor at the department of geosciences and natural resource management at the University of Copenhagen, told Reuters that the rate of melting of ice has entered a new phase in past 20 years. The conclusion was arrived at after a study of a thousand glaciers in the area.

"There is a very clear correlation between the temperature we experience on the planet and the changes we observe in how rapidly the glaciers are melting," Bjork said.

The scientists studied the development of the glaciers over the past 130 years with the help of satellite imagery and 200,000 old photos.

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Global warming has already taken average global temperatures 1.2 degrees Celsius above that in pre-industrial years. Scientists from the European Union have said earlier this month that 2023 is "virtually certain" to be the warmest in 125,000 years.

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If we truly want to lower the global temperature, it will take a global push to limit and even minimise greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said Jørgen Eivind Olesen, Director of the Climate Institute at Aarhus University.

"I believe we can prepare for those glaciers to continue to melt at increasing speeds," Olesen said.

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In order to study effects on climate change on Greenland's ice sheet, glaciers here are often studied as an indicator.

"If we start to see glaciers losing mass several times faster than in the last century, it can make us expect that the ice sheet will follow the same path just on a slower and longer time scale," William Colgan, senior researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) said.

(With inputs from agencies)