Melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Greenland Ice Sheet Melt Extent: Seasonal surface melt extent on the Greenland Ice Sheet has been observed by satellite since 1979 and shows an increasing trend. The melt zone, where summer warmth turns snow and ice around the edges of the ice sheet into slush and ponds of meltwater, has been expanding inland and to record high elevations in recent years. When the meltwater seeps down through cracks in the ice sheet, it may accelerate melting and, in some areas, allow the ice to slide more easily over the bedrock below, speeding its movement to the sea. In addition to contributing to global sea-level rise, this process adds freshwater to the ocean, with potential impacts on ocean circulation and thus regional climate.
Source: ACIA Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (2004),
Key Finding #2, p.40
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The Earth’s Greenhouse Effect
Observed Arctic Temperature, 1900 to Present
Observed sea ice September 1979 and September 2003
Surface Reflectivity
Projected Vegetation, 2090-2100
Arctic Marine Food Web
Map subregions sub-I
Map subregions sub-II
Map subregions sub-III
Map subregions sub-IV
Arctic Thermohaline Circulation
Carbon cycle in the Arctic
Projected Arctic Surface Air Temperatures
Freshwater food web
Projected opening of northern navigation routes
Factors influencing UV at the surface
1000 years of changes in carbon emissions
People of the Arctic
Projected Surface Air Temperature change 1990-2090
Melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet
An ice primer
Spruce Bark Beetle
Spruce Budworm
Peary Caribou
The Porcupine Caribou Herd
The Gwich’in and the Porcupine Caribou Herd
A permafrost primer
Seals Become Elusive for Inuit in Nunavut
Observed Climate Change Impacts in Sachs Harbour, Canada
Indigenous knowledge and observations of current trends
Case study of interacting changes: Saami reindeer herders
Indigenous knowledge and observations of current trends
Indigenous knowledge and observations of current trends
Indigenous knowledge and observations of current trends
Footnotes