Greenland's Ice Sheet

Greenland's Ice Sheet

Global Concern: Accelerated Ice Melt in Greenland Contributes to Global Rising Seas

Where is Greenland?

"World's Largest Island"

Volume of Ice Melt

Greenland has been losing large amounts of ice into the sea

Volume of ice lost could fill rafts the size of 14 states 3 feet thick!!

Is Iceland melting too?

"Land of Fire and Ice"

Multiple Choice

Which has more ice melting into the sea?

• Iceland

• Greenland

Greenland Ice Sheet

Earth's warming climate causes the ice sheet to melt at a rapidly accelerating rate.

This melting ice enters ocean, causes rising global sea levels.

Rising Sea levels causes flooding and other damage to coastal communities.

(photo: Oct. 2018)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Greenland's Change in Ice thickness

The next slide shows data illustrating the changes in Greenland Ice Sheet thickness from 1912 to 2018 and the effect of the melting ice sheets on global sea level, with projections through 2100.

IMBIE, or the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise, is an international collaboration between polar scientists from 50 scientific institutions supported by the European Space Agency and NASA.

The projections were drawn from the 5th Assessment Report (AR5) by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Multiple Choice

What does the red on the map of Greenland indicate?

• Red means the ice is getting thicker

• Red means the ice is getting thinner

• Red means there is flooding

NASA's Earth Minute: Greenland's Melting Ice

Located in the Arctic near the North Pole, Greenland is covered by a massive ice sheet three times the size of Texas and a mile deep on average. Greenland is warming almost twice as fast as Antarctica, which is causing the ice to melt and raise global sea levels. NASA is monitoring Greenland’s ice sheet from high up in space down to the ocean floor to provide data for scientists studying the global impact of all its melting ice.

2021 Arctic Sea Ice Maximum

• Arctic sea ice cycles between melting in warmer summer months and regrows again in colder winter months.

• NASA has recorded both Maximum and Minimum Arctic Sea Ice patterns since 1979

• The "Annual Maximum" is the largest amount of Ice that Regrows after the summer melt.

• This year the regrowth maximum was reached on Mar. 21, 2021 covering 5.70 million square miles--and is the 7th lowest on record.

2021 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

• Warmer summer temperatures melt sea ice until it reaches its smallest amount called the "Minimum"

• The Arctic Minimum in 2020 is the 2nd lowest on record after the record-breaking soring temperatures and wildfires in the Siberian Arctic.

• Arctic sea ice delayed regrowth following warmer temperatures later in the season

• NASA's data indicates that the Arctic Region is warming 3x faster than the rest of the planet.

Before and After Pictures

Photos showing disappearing glaciers

Greenland's Spalte Glacier Disintegrates

Aug. 16, 1986 - July 24, 2020

What changes do you notice happening in the glacier between 1986 and 2020. Enter your response after comparing the pictures on the next 3 slides.

Images of Change - Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov)

Open Ended

After looking at the photos of Greenlands Spalte Glacier between 1986 and 2020, comment on 2 - 3 things that you noticed.

Watch Video again!

Watch the video again and pay close attention to locating answers to the video questions.

Word document to answer these questions is in your assignment section in Unified Classroom.

Video Questions

• Why did coal miners take canaries into coal mines? 

• How is the Greenland ice sheet like a canary in a coal mine? 

• What is the only place on Earth with more land ice than Greenland?

• If ALL the ice from the Greenland ice sheet melted, what would happen to sea level? 

VIdeo questions continued

• How long might it take for ALL the ice from the Greenland ice sheet to melt?

• How much water is the melting Greenland ice adding to the ocean each year? 

• What is a gigatonne?

• What other changes are a result of the melting ice?

Answer Video Questions

Open up the assignment in Unified Classroom.

Answer the video questions and submit.