Dramatic illustration of warming Greenland? Iceberg twice size of Manhattan breaks off Glacier

[n2doc]

By Juliet Eilperin and Jason Samenow, Published: July 17

A chunk of ice twice the size of Manhattan has parted from Greenland’s Petermann glacier, a break researchers at the University of Delaware and Canadian Ice Service attributed to warmer ocean temperatures.

The separation along Greenland’s northwest coast, which took place Monday, represents the second major calving event for the glacier in the past three years. In August 2010, the Petermann glacier lost an area of roughly 97 square miles, compared with the 46 square miles that just split off this week.

Andreas Muenchow, an associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware, said the glacier’s end point is now at “a location where it has not been for at least 150 years.”

“The Greenland ice sheet is changing rapidly before our eyes,” Muenchow said in an interview, adding that while “no individual glacier will be the canary in the coal mine” recent warming has transformed the overall ice sheet.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/greenland-glacier-loses-large-mass-of-ice/2012/07/17/gJQAf5CQsW_story.html

[longship]

1. Land ice melt == higher ocean levels

The Arctic ice can melt all it wants. But when land based glaciers melt, or slip into the ocean, it adds water to the oceans, increasing sea level.

But, the most increase in ocean levels is due to the fact that warm water has higher volume than cooler. As seas warm, sea level rises, in spite of added melt from land based glaciers.

Another problem. Even though Arctic melt doesn't add to sea level, it does change the albedo of the north seas. Ice reflects solar energy; sea water does not so much. Less Arctic ice provides a positive feedback mechanism to make oceans absorb more solar energy, making sea levels rise in spite of glacier melt and calving.

We're screwed no matter.