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Caribbean or Polar Sea?

At first glance, this picture from Greenland seems almost tropical

Photo: Steffen M. Olsen/ Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut/ DPA

The Greenland ice sheet lost an area of ​​5,091 square kilometers between 1985 and 2022, an area roughly twice the size of Saarland.

This emerges from a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

That is around 20 percent more than previously assumed.

The work primarily examined the retreat of Greenland's glaciers.

Accordingly, during the period examined, they lost 1,034 gigatons more of ice through breaking off into the sea than was able to be added to the island, for example through snowfall - so when you calculate it down, the island loses the enormous number of 30 million tons of ice per hour.

According to the US driver team, the study used more than 200,000 satellite images that documented the changes in glacier positions over time.

It was found that the retreat of glaciers occurred at a comparatively moderate pace until the late 1990s and has accelerated significantly since then.

A loss of 218 square kilometers of ice surface was calculated for the year 2000 alone.

»Previous methods were not particularly suitable for measuring changes in the ice sheet.

But it’s huge,” said co-author Alex Gardner.

Even if the water masses are enormous, the scientists do not expect a major effect on the height of the sea level: a large part of the glacier ice was already below the water surface when it melted.

However, the fact that more fresh water has entered the ocean in this way could have a different effect: the stability of the so-called Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may be at risk.

The recorded mass loss is certainly enough "to influence ocean circulation and the distribution of thermal energy around the globe," the team concludes.

Are there threats of further climate changes?

The Atlantic circulation, which includes the Gulf Stream, is a large system of ocean currents.

The system transports warm water from the tropics north into the North Atlantic, while colder and saltier water flows back deeper down.

The AMOC is driven by winds and different water temperatures and salinity.

Researchers from all over the world have been noticing a weakening of the circulation for some time and fear that it could collapse in the future.

Dramatic climate changes could be the result.

sol/Reuters