Greenland’s northern glaciers are in trouble, threatening ‘dramatic’ sea level rise, study shows

CNN quotes Sophie Nowicki in a story reporting that northern Greenland’s huge glaciers — long thought to be relatively stable — are in trouble. As the ocean warms, Greenland’s last remaining ice shelves are rapidly weakening, destabilizing the nearby glaciers and threatening potentially “dramatic” consequences for sea level rise, according to the study published Tuesday in Nature Communications. Nowicki, who was not involved in the study, said the study’s findings are significant because of the insight they provide into sources and triggers of changes to Greenland’s ice sheet. “What is new is the ‘long-term’ record and holistic view of ice shelf evolution,” she said. “​​We knew that ice shelf basal melting is related to ocean temperature, but what is neat about this study is that it gives a better idea about the timing and magnitude of the change.”