December 10, 2019

Greenland ice loss

A team of 96 polar scientists from 50 international organisations have produced the most complete picture of Greenland ice loss to date. The Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE) Team combined 26 separate surveys to compute changes in the mass of Greenland’s ice sheet between 1992 and 2018.

The study suggests that Greenland’s ice losses are rising faster than expected, in line with the IPCC’s high-end climate warming scenario.

‘Mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1992-2018’ will be published in Nature. Come to the SMC to hear from the IMBIE scientists about the new measurements and their implications for sea-level rise.

Speakers included:

Prof Andrew Shepherd, Director of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, University of Leeds

Dr Ruth Mottram, Climate Scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute

Prof Rene Forsberg, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark

An SMC roundup of comments accompanied this briefing.