Greenland loses 11 billion tonnes of ice in one day
It’s the biggest melt of the summer! As per the scientists and environmental experts, for the first time in history, Greenland’s ice sheet lost 11 billion tonnes, which means, it lost two gigatonnes, that is two billion tonnes of ice, in one day! If this calculation didn’t help, well then understand this—Greenland lost ice surface equal to the size of 4.4 million Olympic pools.
The news was also confirmed by the country’s official Twitter handle, “On June 13, we calculated #Greenland #icesheet lost more than 2 Gt of ice, melt was widespread, but didn’t quite get to #Summit Camp which was just below 0 degree C. The high melt is unusual so early in the season but not unprecedented.”
It was further explored that Greenland lost such as wide amount of ice due to the atmospheric circulation between the Arctic and North Atlantic region of the world. Nonetheless, melting of billion of tonnes of ice into the ocean at an alarming rate is yet another sign that we are in dire need of a plan that reforms the climatic condition of our planet.
As per climatic cycle, Greenland starts losing ice by the end of May, however, this year; first ice loss was recorded on April 30, which was very unusual. Last time Greenland saw ice loss before the usual time was back in 1980. However, the melting process certainly has changed within last 10 years. In 2016, the melting process began somewhere around mid-April. In 2016, first ice loss happened around May 7.
“On average, the melt season starts around the 26th May, so we are almost a full month earlier this year,” scientist Peter Langen said in a statement via Polar Portal.
According to experts, the change might also be the result of the cold and dry weather that was persistent in Greenland, this year. Every year, Greenland gains ice during the winter due to the accumulated snow in the country, and loses the same during summer season. This year, due to dry and overwhelmingly warm spell, the ice is melting at a rapid rate.
The sheet was melting since four month, consistently, before April. In the month of July, the ice loss was recorded to be 197 billion. The average ice melting for this year is expected to be somewhere between 60-70 billion tonnes.
June, 2019 was recorded as the warmest month ever. As the result, glaciers are melting at a rapid rate all over the world. It’s not just Greenland, but Himalayas are also losing ice sheets at a faster rate. No wonder, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are on high alert because of a possible flood in the month of August. Uttarkashi has already lost a handful people and a house due to the risen level of the Ganges. In fact, yesterday, Delhi government ordered for the evacuation of people living near the Yamuna.
Scientists have warned that we must limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius to avoid the negative impact of the climate on our planet. However, researches show that even if all the possible measures are taken to reverse the climate change, the inertia of what has been done already is far too much to reverse the change in its entirety.
Many reports have also concluded that looking at the rate of ice melting in regions like Greenland and seal level may rise faster than expected in the coming years. As a result, major cities like London and Mumbai will drown and displace more than 180 million worldwide.
