Boreal summer is coming to an end, but the warming problems in the icy regions do not end. Large areas of the Greenland ice sheet are melting this September, an unprecedented widespread phenomenon that could have implications for the ice sheet next year. Adding extra water to the ocean from this unexpected meltdown will cause sea level rise.
Greenland’s melting season typically runs from May to early September. The 2022 season got off to a slow start, with below-average temperatures in May and June resulting in the least amount of spring melt in a decade. Melting continued at a moderate rate throughout the summer and peaked in mid-July. At the summit on July 18, The surface melt covered 688,000 square kilometers of ice sheet, equivalent to all of France.
Biggest meltdown ever seen in September
The end-of-season heat wave triggered a major meltdown from September 1-6. At its peak on September 3, the melt spread over 592,000 square kilometers of the ice sheet. The second-largest meltdown peak of the 2022 season and the largest of any September since record-keeping began in 1979.. Melting events of this magnitude are unlikely in September, as seasonal temperatures often drop as the hours of sunlight decrease, Europa Press reports.
However, improbable does not mean impossible, NASA Earth Observatory reports. This September 2022 melt is the result of a weather system that brings warm, moist air over the ice sheet.. The map at the top of this page shows how the air temperatures from 30 August to 5 September 2022 compare with temperatures for the same period in 2020, when melting is more typical. In some places, temperatures rose 15°C more than in 2020. Temperatures at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Summit Station were reported to be above zero (0°C).
The map is derived from the Goddard Earth Observation System (GEOS) model and represents air temperature 2 meters above the ground. Modeled data using mathematical equations representing real-world physical processes provide a broad, predictive view of a region where ground-based weather stations are few and far between.
sea ​​level rise
At around 1.7 million square kilometers, Greenland is covered with ice, the largest ice sheet on the planet outside of Antarctica. Ice gains mass through snow deposition and loses it through surface melting and runoff, calving of icebergs, and melting at the bottom of tidewater glaciers. As air and water temperatures have increased in recent years, ice losses have outstripped gains, contributing to sea level rise.
Melting events such as early September 2022 could affect current and future ice losses, according to Lauren Andrews, a glaciologist with NASA’s Office of Global Modeling and Assimilation.
“Overall the amount of mass lost during the melt season clearly increases as the melt season goes beyond its typical length,” Andrews said. “What is not so obvious, however, is that a longer melting season also delays the accumulation of snow on the surface. This, in turn, may affect the initial intensity of the next melting season.”
Fewer snowdrifts in winter means snow can melt faster in spring, exposing large areas of relatively dark bare ice. Compared to shiny new snow, these darker surfaces absorb more solar energy, increasing melting during the long sunny days of the Arctic.
Reference article: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150324/late-season-melting-in-greenland
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Environment department contact address:crisclimatica@prensaiberica.es
Source: Informacion
Anika Rood is an author at “Social Bites”. She is an automobile enthusiast who writes about the latest developments and news in the automobile industry. With a deep understanding of the latest technologies and a passion for writing, Anika provides insightful and engaging articles that keep her readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the world of automobiles.