A study published in the journal Nature and conducted by Dartmouth College, the Technical University of Denmark and the University of California shows that the loss of ice from Greenland‘s largest basin is happening much faster than expected and could contribute up to six times more to global sea level rise than previously assumed. The study of Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) data, which uses information gathered from satellites and numerical modelling of the last ten years of GPS data, explains that by 2100, meltwater from the NEGIS could contribute 1.27 centimetres to sea level rise, an increase equal to the contribution of the entire Greenland ice sheet during the last 50 years. In 2012, warm ocean currents caused the collapse of the floating extension of the NEGIS, accelerating the flow of ice and triggering a wave of rapid ice thinning extending inland from the Greenland coast up to 200-300 kilometres. Other glaciers could suffer the same fate. Read more on Nature
