Granville Online: Melting ice in Greenland

http://www.granvilleonline.ca

We're not getting a lot of good news about glaciers these days, and an academic paper coming out on Friday in Science continues the trend.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Washington (UW) have discovered that glaciers have plumbing systems. They have documented for the first time the sudden and complete drainage of a lake of meltwater from the top of the Greenland ice sheet to its base.

When meltwater penetrates the ice in this way, it lubricates the bottom of the glacier and can speed the large-scale summer movements of the ice sheet by up to 100 per cent.

Why is this bad? It's simple, really: lubricated glaciers slide faster, break up faster and melt faster.

Says the WHOI's Sarah Das: "The pools of meltwater that form on the surface in summer can actually drive a crack through the ice sheet. [This process] can create a conduit all the way down to the bed of the ice sheet."

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• glaciers
• global
• warming
• greenland
• meltwater
• WHOI
• UW
• Science
• environment
• granville

[SuperDickweed]

Who's the guy trying to unclog the toilet?

[MrFitzwilly]

Climate deniers can now go to climate crock of the week and get the truth. and the truth is the globe is warming, and not just a wee bit.

[camcheck]

@Fioranoen Then, I guess you dont no much Arctic history. Bing SCIENCESKEPTICAL MWP . Most studies show it has been warmer in the past there than today.

[Fioranoen]

FreeAgain2, are you an idiot? I live in Norway, been visiting the nort pole areas over 10 times in my life, also been recording snow conditions all my life. Nothing is stopping, nothing is growing, the snow and ice caps rapidly decreasing in size and amount.

[FreeAgain2]

As of 2009

Perito Moreno Glacier, largest glacier in Argentina, is growing.

Pio XI Glacier, largest glacier in Chile, is growing.

Glaciers growing on Mt. Logan, the tallest mountain in Canada.

Glaciers growing on Mt. Blanc, the tallest mountain in France.

Glaciers (230 of them) are growing in the Western Himalayas.

Glaciers are growing in Norway.

Recently, all 50 glaciers in New Zealand were growing.

The Greenland Ice Sheet is growing thicker.

The Antarctic Ice Sheet is also growing.