The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Unprecedented rain near the top of the ice cap in Greenland

2021-08-23T14:53:03.766Z


It rained in mid-August at more than 3,000 meters above sea level on the Greenlandic ice cap, an exceptional phenomenon, announced Monday, August 23 ...


It rained in mid-August at more than 3,000 meters above sea level on the Greenlandic ice cap, an exceptional phenomenon, the Danish meteorological institute DMI announced on Monday (August 23).

See also Greenland: a heat wave causes an episode of "massive" melting of the ice

Rain was observed for several hours on August 14 at the US Summit station on top of the ice cap, the US Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported.

Rain can only fall if the temperature is above or slightly below 0 ° C.

This is therefore an extreme situation, because it may never have happened before,

”DMI researcher Martin Stendel told AFP.

It's likely to be a sign of global warming,

” he said.

An unprecedented heat wave

Temperatures were just above 0 ° C, meaning the snow melts and refreezes to turn to ice, which has only happened nine times in the past 2,000 years, including three in the past ten years (2012, 2019 and 2021), but it did not rain in 2012 and 2019, he noted. "

We cannot prove that it has rained or not the previous six times, but it is very unlikely, which makes the observed rains even more remarkable,

" said the researcher.

This rainy episode comes at a time when unusual temperatures of over 20 degrees, with local records, were recorded in northern Greenland during the summer.

This heat wave resulted in an accelerated rate of melting of the ice sheet.

Its decline, which began several decades ago, has accelerated since 1990 and continues to get carried away.

An elevation of the oceans of six to seven meters

The second largest ice cap behind Antarctica, with an area of ​​nearly 1.8 million square kilometers, the ice sheet covering Greenland is of concern to scientists as the Arctic warms three times faster than elsewhere in the world.

Read also Global warming: why the Earth is burning

According to a European study published in January, the melting of the Greenland icecap should contribute to the general rise in the level of the oceans to the height of 10 to 18 centimeters by 2100, that is to say 60% faster than the previous estimate. The Greenlandic cap contains in total enough to raise the level of the oceans by six to seven meters.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-08-23

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.