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A heat wave in Greenland, with temperatures more than 10 degrees above seasonal normals,
this week triggered a "massive" melting episode of the Greenland ice cap
, glaciologists warned.
Since Wednesday, the ice cap that covers the vast Arctic territory
has melted some 8 billion tonnes every day
, twice the average rate during the summer period, according to data from Polar Portal, a modeling tool run by Danish research institutes. .
According to the Danish meteorological institute DMI,
unusual temperatures of more than 20 degrees
have been recorded in northern Greenland in recent days
, with local records.
At the small
Nerlerit Inaat
airport
in northeastern Greenland, mercury reached 23.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday,
the highest level since the weather station began records
and higher than the maximum temperature recorded in Denmark that day.
8 billion liters of fresh water
This heat wave, which has also affected much of the vast Arctic territory, has accelerated the rate of melting of the ice cap.
By way of comparison, the immense volume of water melted every day in recent days - 8 billion liters of fresh water -
"would be enough to cover the entire surface of Florida with two inches of water,
" says Polar Portal.
Greenland's daily thaw record, which dates back to the summer of 2019, has not been broken, but the part of the territory where the ice melted
is higher than two years ago, the Arctic watch site said.
Second ice cap after Antarctica, with an area
of almost 1.8 million square kilometers
, the ice sheet that covers Greenland worries scientists because warming in the Arctic is three times faster than in the rest of the world .
Its decline, which began several decades ago,
has accelerated since 1990
.
10 centimeters of rise from the sea
According to a European study published in January, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet will
contribute to the general rise in sea level by 10 to 18 centimeters between now and 2100, which
is 60% faster than the previous estimate.
The Greenland ice sheet contains enough to
raise the oceans 6 to 7 meters.
Due to a relatively
cool
start to
summer with snowfall and rain
, the ice sheet retreat in 2021 is still at the historical average, according to Polar Portal.
The thaw period runs from June to early September.
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