Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland

Abstract In recent decades, Greenland's peripheral glaciers have experienced large‐scale mass loss, resulting in a substantial contribution to sea level rise. While their total area of Greenland ice cover is relatively small (4%), their mass loss is disproportionally large compared to the Green...

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Main Authors: Shfaqat A. Khan, William Colgan, Thomas A. Neumann, Michiel R. van denBroeke, Kelly M. Brunt, Brice Noël, Jonathan L. Bamber, Javed Hassan, Anders A. Bjørk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-06-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098915
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author Shfaqat A. Khan
William Colgan
Thomas A. Neumann
Michiel R. van denBroeke
Kelly M. Brunt
Brice Noël
Jonathan L. Bamber
Javed Hassan
Anders A. Bjørk
author_facet Shfaqat A. Khan
William Colgan
Thomas A. Neumann
Michiel R. van denBroeke
Kelly M. Brunt
Brice Noël
Jonathan L. Bamber
Javed Hassan
Anders A. Bjørk
author_sort Shfaqat A. Khan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In recent decades, Greenland's peripheral glaciers have experienced large‐scale mass loss, resulting in a substantial contribution to sea level rise. While their total area of Greenland ice cover is relatively small (4%), their mass loss is disproportionally large compared to the Greenland ice sheet. Satellite altimetry from Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and ICESat‐2 shows that mass loss from Greenland's peripheral glaciers increased from 27.2 ± 6.2 Gt/yr (February 2003–October 2009) to 42.3 ± 6.2 Gt/yr (October 2018–December 2021). These relatively small glaciers now constitute 11 ± 2% of Greenland's ice loss and contribute to global sea level rise. In the period October 2018–December 2021, mass loss increased by a factor of four for peripheral glaciers in North Greenland. While peripheral glacier mass loss is widespread, we also observe a complex regional pattern where increases in precipitation at high altitudes have partially counteracted increases in melt at low altitude.
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institution Kabale University
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language English
publishDate 2022-06-01
publisher Wiley
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-2e9ef72c82b24e1d85489ea6a07129152025-01-22T14:38:16ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072022-06-014912n/an/a10.1029/2022GL098915Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North GreenlandShfaqat A. Khan0William Colgan1Thomas A. Neumann2Michiel R. van denBroeke3Kelly M. Brunt4Brice Noël5Jonathan L. Bamber6Javed Hassan7Anders A. Bjørk8DTU Space Technical University of Denmark Kongens Lyngby DenmarkDepartment of Glaciology and Climate Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Copenhagen DenmarkNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USAInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USAInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsBristol Glaciology Centre University of Bristol Bristol UKDTU Space Technical University of Denmark Kongens Lyngby DenmarkDepartment of Geosciences and Natural Resources University of Copenhagen Copenhagen DenmarkAbstract In recent decades, Greenland's peripheral glaciers have experienced large‐scale mass loss, resulting in a substantial contribution to sea level rise. While their total area of Greenland ice cover is relatively small (4%), their mass loss is disproportionally large compared to the Greenland ice sheet. Satellite altimetry from Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and ICESat‐2 shows that mass loss from Greenland's peripheral glaciers increased from 27.2 ± 6.2 Gt/yr (February 2003–October 2009) to 42.3 ± 6.2 Gt/yr (October 2018–December 2021). These relatively small glaciers now constitute 11 ± 2% of Greenland's ice loss and contribute to global sea level rise. In the period October 2018–December 2021, mass loss increased by a factor of four for peripheral glaciers in North Greenland. While peripheral glacier mass loss is widespread, we also observe a complex regional pattern where increases in precipitation at high altitudes have partially counteracted increases in melt at low altitude.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098915Greenlandice mass lossIcesat‐2peripheral glaciersatellite altimetrysea level rise
spellingShingle Shfaqat A. Khan
William Colgan
Thomas A. Neumann
Michiel R. van denBroeke
Kelly M. Brunt
Brice Noël
Jonathan L. Bamber
Javed Hassan
Anders A. Bjørk
Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland
Geophysical Research Letters
Greenland
ice mass loss
Icesat‐2
peripheral glacier
satellite altimetry
sea level rise
title Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland
title_full Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland
title_fullStr Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland
title_full_unstemmed Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland
title_short Accelerating Ice Loss From Peripheral Glaciers in North Greenland
title_sort accelerating ice loss from peripheral glaciers in north greenland
topic Greenland
ice mass loss
Icesat‐2
peripheral glacier
satellite altimetry
sea level rise
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098915
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AT michielrvandenbroeke acceleratingicelossfromperipheralglaciersinnorthgreenland
AT kellymbrunt acceleratingicelossfromperipheralglaciersinnorthgreenland
AT bricenoel acceleratingicelossfromperipheralglaciersinnorthgreenland
AT jonathanlbamber acceleratingicelossfromperipheralglaciersinnorthgreenland
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