Greenland's glaciers are melting five times faster than they were 20 years ago

The melting ice in Greenland is of particular concern, as the ancient ice sheet contains enough water to raise sea levels by at least 6 metres if it melted completely.

Glacier in Greenland. Photo: Reuters

A study of thousands of glaciers in the region shows that the melting rate has entered a new phase in the past two decades, said Anders Anker Bjork, a professor in the department of geosciences and natural resource management at the University of Copenhagen.

“There is a very clear correlation between the temperatures we experience on the planet and the changes we observe in the rate of glacier melt,” said Bjork.

Glaciers are retreating an average of 25 metres per year, compared with 5-6 metres about two decades ago, scientists concluded after studying the growth of glaciers over the past 130 years using satellite imagery and 200,000 old photographs.

Scientists from the European Union said earlier this month that the world has warmed by nearly 1.2°C above pre-industrial temperatures and 2023 will “almost certainly” be the warmest year in the past 125,000 years.

Reducing temperatures will require global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said Jørgen Eivind Olesen, director of the Climate Institute at Aarhus University. “I believe we may have to prepare for glaciers to continue to melt at an increasing rate,” he said.

Trung Kien (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/song-bang-o-greenland-tan-nhanh-gap-5-lan-so-voi-20-nam-truoc-post271972.html