For years NASA has tracked changes in the massive Greenland Ice Sheet. This week scientists using NASA data released the most detailed picture ever of how the ice sheet moves toward the sea and new insights into the hidden plumbing of melt water flowing under the snowy surface.
“The Greenland Ice Sheet is finally yielding its secrets,” said Tom Wagner, NASA’s cryosphere program scientist. “These studies represent new leaps in our knowledge of how the ice sheet is losing ice. It turns out the ice sheet is a lot more complex than we ever thought.”
The results of these studies are expected to improve predictions of the future of the entire Greenland ice sheet and its contribution to sea level rise as researchers revamp their computer models of how the ice sheet reacts to a warming climate.
› NASA feature story: “Hidden Movements of Greenland Ice Sheet, Runoff Revealed”
Image credit: NASA