Past evidence boosts concern for Greenland icesheet: scientists

PARIS (AFP) – Scientists Sunday said they could no longer rule out a fast-track melting of the Greenland icesheet — a prospect, once the preserve of doomsayers, that would see much of the world’s coastline drowned by rising seas.

The researchers found that the great Laurentide icesheet which smothered much of North America during the last Ice Age melted far swifter than realised, dumping billions of tonnes of water into the ocean.


The discovery raises worrying questions about the future stability of Greenland’s icesheet, for the Laurentide melt occurred thanks to a spurt of warming that could be mirrored once more by the end of this century, they said.

“The word ‘glacial’ used to imply that something was very slow,” said climate researcher Allegra LeGrande of New York’s Columbia University.

“This new evidence from the past, paired with our model for predicting future climate, indicates that ‘glacial’ is anything but slow. Past icesheets responded quickly to a changing climate, hinting at the potential for a similar response in the future.”

AFP