(Copenhagen) The huge Greenland ice sheet has lost 4.7 trillion tonnes in the space of 20 years, alone contributing to a 1.2 centimeter rise in the oceans, according to new data published this week by Danish research on the Arctic.
Posted at 7:27
This volume of melted ice, which on the scale of the surface of the United States represents half a meter of water, is particularly important on the coasts of the Danish autonomous territory, according to this study based on satellite observations of the “Grace “.
“Since the start of measurements in April 2002, the Greenland ice cap has lost about 4700 gigatonnes or 4700 cubic kilometers”, indicates the Polar Portal, umbrella organization of the Danish institutes on the Arctic.
“This melting has contributed to raising the sea level by 1.2 centimeters”, specifies the scientific organization, at the forefront of monitoring Greenland ice.
“The data show that most ice loss is occurring at the edges of the ice sheet, where independent observations indicate that ice is shrinking, glacial fronts are receding into fjords and onshore, and melting is stronger on the surface of the ice”, points out the Danish organisation.
The west coast of Greenland is particularly affected, according to its data.
Global warming is particularly alarming in the Arctic, where it has occurred in recent decades at a rate three or even four times higher than the rest of the planet, according to the latest scientific studies.
According to a study published at the end of January by the American NASA, the accelerated melting near the coasts is explained by the warming of the waters of the Arctic Ocean, which contributes “at least as much as the air on the surface” to the decline of the ice cap. greenlandic.
Melting ice in Greenland is currently the main factor in rising oceans on Earth and Greenland’s glaciers are now retreating six to seven times faster than 25 years ago, according to the US agency.
According to climatologists, the Greenland ice cap contains a total of enough to raise the oceans by more than seven meters, and Antarctica by almost 50 meters, even if the melting processes are very slow phenomena.
At the same time, the Arctic sea ice – the melting of which has no effect on sea levels – has also shrunk considerably, losing on average nearly 13% of its surface area every 10 years.