Greenland rose faster as 100 billion tons of ice melted away

POLENET

This GPS sensor on Greenland is one of nearly 50 spread across the island.

A network of GPS stations across southern Greenland has detected that the area lost 100 billion tons of ice due to an unusually warm summer in 2010, researchers report. What's more, removing that much weight has raised parts of the bedrock by a quarter inch more than in recent years.

Greenland's ice sheet has been seeing a steady melt during the summer months, and those GPS stations in years prior to 2010 typically detected an uplift of 0.59 inches.

"But a temperature spike in 2010 lifted the bedrock a detectably higher amount over a short five-month period -- as high as 20 mm (0.79 inches) in some locations," Ohio State University said in explaining the research by Michael Bevis, one of its geologists, and others that are part of the POLENET research network.


Bevis described the findings last Friday at a conference of the American Geophysical Union, saying he's convinced that the uplift is due to the ice loss.

"Really, there is no other explanation. The uplift anomaly correlates with maps of the 2010 melting day anomaly. In locations where there were many extra days of melting in 2010, the uplift anomaly is highest."

He added that the findings also have implications for sea levels.

"Pulses of extra melting and uplift imply that we'll experience pulses of extra sea level rise. The process is not really a steady process," he said.

Experts had earlier estimated that Greenland between 1961 and 2003 saw years that ranged from 25 billion tons of new ice to years where 60 billion tons were lost. Years since then have seen even higher shrinkage.

100 billion tons of ice melting from Greenland's ice sheet translates into a global sea level increase of about .01 inches.

The team first reported that ice sheets, which can be thousands of feet thick, suppress bedrock in 2008, when they discussed findings from similar GPS sensors on Antarctica.

Discuss this post

So what! It will gain one trillion tons of ice over the winter.

    Reply#1 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:54 PM EST

    If that were the case, then you might have a point. Since it obviously is not the case, why are you saying it?

    • 9 votes
    #1.1 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:14 PM EST

    So in THIS case global warming is INCREASING the height of the landmass.

      #1.2 - Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:27 AM EST

      The scientific term is isostacy. The weight of glacial ice depresses the continental crust. The melting of continental glaciers relieves the pressure and the rocks of the crust rebound to their original position. That could lead to the displacement of more seawater around the edges of the landmasses that will spread out and add to coastal flooding in other locations that are not experiencing isostacy.

        #1.3 - Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:45 AM EST
        Reply

        really, justice? please cite your source.

        • 3 votes
        Reply#2 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:15 PM EST

        It cannot be global warming.. it can't... The GOP says it isn't so it much be true!

        • 2 votes
        Reply#3 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:20 PM EST

        Every time you fart, a polar bear loses his home.

        • 5 votes
        Reply#4 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:31 PM EST

        I thought it just got wings.

          #4.1 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:18 PM EST

          And everytime you fart, you open your mouth.

          • 2 votes
          #4.2 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:58 PM EST

          I say we start a new federal agency, the BPAAGW, Butt Plug Agency Against Global Warming. Complete with an army of inspectors whose job it is to make sure you are wearing your plug during the designated hours. Dems will have to wear a mouth gag too.

            #4.3 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:35 PM EST

            So a consistent rise by one cheek is causing the consistent rise in global warming?

              #4.4 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:17 PM EST

              I thought is was from Cow flatulance.

                #4.5 - Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:30 AM EST
                Reply

                The worlds greed and the politcians narrow minds will doom this plant. I am glad that I am three quarters through my life and won't need to worry to much about the future!

                • 1 vote
                Reply#5 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:27 PM EST

                As Greenland rises and the weight (mass) of water in the oceans increase, the ocean floor will be pushed down. The net rise in the sea level along continental masses will be near zero. Islands that sit on the ocean floor are in for a wet time though. North America is still rebounding from the last glaciation. I find it more interesting than alarming, but then I live high and dry near the center of a continental mass. ;-)

                • 1 vote
                Reply#6 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:27 PM EST

                Islands that sit on the ocean floor are in for a wet time though

                Dale are you attempting to say that there is an island that is not attached to the oceans floor?

                You do realize that the oceans waters cover earth?

                • 2 votes
                #6.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:12 AM EST

                Dale - if the ocean floor is pushed down from the added weight of water, there wouldn't be such a big todo about climate change.

                The ocean plates do not sink with added weight like the continental plates do. Added water to the ocean raises the water level.

                Good for you being in the middle of the continent - once Florida is under water, they'll be a whole lot more people joining you there.

                • 1 vote
                #6.2 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 2:00 PM EST

                RUN FOR THE HILLS !!!! Global warming climate change (is that the phrase du jour ?) has caused Greenlands ice to melt.....

                100 billion tons of ice melting from Greenland's ice sheet translates into a global sea level increase of about .01 inches.

                OH,....... never mind.

                  #6.3 - Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:35 AM EST
                  Reply

                  if we follow this logic, the ocean shouldn't rise at all..

                    Reply#7 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:32 PM EST

                    unique- well, actually no. Dale's is making an assumption that is incorrect. It sounds kind of pseudo-scientific (or at least logical) but it doesn't work that way. Also, as Greenland rises, its shallows rise and further raise sea levels. I still plan on buying oceanfront property...I can't help myself.

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#8 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:52 PM EST

                    In Kansas?

                      #8.1 - Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:29 PM EST
                      Reply

                      So they are comparing 42 years of data when there has been ice in Greenland for a few hundred thousand years....Unbelievable! No correlation between the sun cycles and warmth and cooling???? These idiots won't stop at anything for their political agenda....Maybe they should show some facts instead of a few GPS stations!

                        Reply#9 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:02 PM EST

                        The fact that you are unaware of the facts does not mean they don't exist. The science is clear.

                        • 1 vote
                        #9.1 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:30 PM EST
                        Reply

                        lol, According to all the scientist on this board we will float away....

                          Reply#10 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:07 PM EST

                          Sorry bo but scientists have been drilling Greenland for years and can look back thousands of years from the cores to tell exactly what has happened with the climate in Greenland. What is not known is what affect all this fresh water will have on the Gulf Current system that moves from Africa up the coasts of America and Europe. This is what gives these areas a temperate climate. Too much fresh water and the system shuts down. This means drought for Africa with hotter temps at the same time a local freeze in Eastern Canada, N.E. U.S. and Northern Europe. Eastern Canada, the N.E. U.S. and Northern Europe would look like Labrador and West Africa would look like the Sahara. It might take thousands of years for the Gulf Stream system to start up again. If you live in NYC, you might want to invest in some snowshoes.

                            Reply#11 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:22 PM EST

                            If what you say happens, billions of tons of ice will accumulate in the now cooler areas, cancelling out any rise in sea level.

                            • 1 vote
                            #11.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:30 AM EST

                            Mr. McNicholas,

                            Then I would like to ask: How is the bit about the Gulf current shut-down known? Is it speculation or does it happen a significant number of times in computer simulations? Neither of these hold much water with me in that climate is such a complex system it's hard to predict even hours in advance - much less months or years.

                              #11.2 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:19 AM EST

                              You may want to look at the Younger Drayes period about 11,000 years ago. When the last ice age was retreating, there was a period where it turned cold again. Geological records indicate that a large lake of fresh water from melting glaciers was suddenly released into the north Atlantic ocean, and the current was stopped or greatly slowed down, causing a cold period. Read the information and make your own decision, but it makes sense to me.

                              • 1 vote
                              #11.3 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:25 AM EST

                              boomer has watched way to many movies with a global warming chicken little hysteria.

                              There are currents in fresh water lakes how does one come up with a refute to currents in a closed system like a lake?

                                #11.4 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:17 AM EST

                                Given the fact that programmers have put in certain routines that come up with flawed conclusions based on faulty coding fixed in a way to give pro-anthropogenic global warming data.

                                They rigged the output with false inputs.

                                Better known as cico (crap in crap out).

                                Computer models are at best flawed and at worst very wrong.

                                • 1 vote
                                #11.5 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:19 AM EST

                                Regarding the ocean floor sinking due to the increase in the amount of water from the melting glaciers - The surface area of the oceans is much, much greater than the surface area of Greenland (or for that matter, Antarctica, so the weight of the melted water is spread over a huge area, and the increase in water pressure on the ocean floors will be imperceptably greater and the resultant sinking will not be noticeable.

                                The whole reason INTELLIGENT people claim that the global warming situation is initiated by man is that we are burning lots and lots of coal and oil and releasing carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) that has been trapped in the ground for a very long period of time. Carbon dioxide reflects infrared light in the atmosphere, and as a result, things are getting warmer. This is not politics, it is data.

                                The politics comes into play when people say that we need to stop global warming. I do not know. Some of people say fighting global warming will destroy American industry. I doubt it. I think global warming creates big opportunities for Americans to make a lot of money finding other sources of energy and increasing efficiencies.

                                As an engineer in manufacturing for many years I think that politicians of all stripes have been workinghard to destroy American industry in order to serve the monied interests in New York and on Wall Street. We absolutely need to fix the political process so that it responds to the needs of citizens and does not hinder the growth of industry and jobs in the United States.

                                • 1 vote
                                #11.6 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:12 PM EST

                                benr...You have a Bachelor of Science degree in ________— (fill in blank)....

                                (Your comments strongly suggest you know little about writing code, models or science.)

                                  #11.7 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:05 PM EST
                                  Reply

                                  our government can't even balance a budget, yet they want to play GOD changing the weather. actually, they just want another source to tax !!!!

                                    Reply#12 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:26 PM EST

                                    The official position of the World Natural Health Organization in regards to global warming is that there is NO GLOBAL WARMING! Global warming is nothing more than just another hoax, just like Y2K and the global freezing claims in the 1960's and 70's were.

                                    Global warming is being used to generate fear and panic. Those behind this movement are using it to control people's lives and for financial gain.

                                    Folks, follow the money. The people behind the hoax are the scientist who's goal it is to grab the grant $ coming in so they can keep their projects (their lives) afloat....Simple

                                    • 1 vote
                                    Reply#13 - Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:42 PM EST

                                    The World Natural Health Organization is part of the Christian Works Ministry
                                    group.

                                      #13.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:15 PM EST
                                      Reply

                                      Who the heck is the World National Health Organization? And besides being an obvious name to gain mistaken identity with a REAL oragnization like the World Health Organization (WHO), why would a "health" organization be weighing in on global warming?

                                      Yeah, Follow the money Rob.....and it wont be the peanuts that a bunch of scientists get. Itll be the corporations TRILLIONS that they want to get.......ask them if they can spare a few to buy you a clue

                                        Reply#14 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:46 AM EST

                                        Why indeed!

                                        Based on hysteria they are attempting to say we will all starve to death if the earth warms up.

                                        We all know its Bull carp but they want their carbon taxes, vat taxes, command and control socialist liberty stealing one world government one world bank everyone is forced to pay taxes to and laws to make denying this fraud of anthropogenic global warming illegal and punishable by fines and jail time.

                                        This is the very essence of tyranny..

                                          #14.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:23 AM EST

                                          And you do a pretty good job of being the very essence of ignorance.

                                            #14.2 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:54 PM EST
                                            Reply

                                            What did Butthead have to say on the issue?

                                              Reply#15 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:43 AM EST

                                              To all you deniers instead of just repeating talking points how bout some of you dedicate your lives(as scientists do) to dissproving these claims.You know since you all know everything why not go and prove that these scientists are lying.Go to Greenland and c onduct your own experiments and after years of study you can easily dissprove them.I'm sure since you people already know.

                                              Oh yeah you are just blowhards and have no clue what you're talking about.I forgot my bad.

                                              • 2 votes
                                              Reply#16 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:57 AM EST

                                              You are a fool. Science is not a belief system, that's religon. Just "beliving" is contrary to the scientific method and promotes ignorance and foolishness. Obviously you are not even remotely familiar with the scientific method and are not a critical thinker. Your point of view is archaic and harmful to society.

                                              • 1 vote
                                              #16.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:45 AM EST
                                              Reply

                                              earth changes the end this is a non story

                                                Reply#17 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:03 AM EST

                                                This is a total crock! GPS accuracy is measured in meters not inches or mm. It is not possible to do what they claimed with GPS. Garbage data. Garbage study. Garbage article.

                                                  Reply#18 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:40 AM EST

                                                  Check you facts, DP. GPS surveying is accurate to 5 mm:

                                                    #18.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:53 AM EST

                                                    CAN be as accurate to 5mm.. There are many things that can change it.

                                                      #18.2 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:54 PM EST

                                                      GPS can be projected to any system MM CM Inches feet meters etc and no it can be that accurate but varies on any given day due to the athmosphere and the sun etc. Even with postprocessing

                                                        #18.3 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:58 PM EST

                                                        GPS accuracy was purposefully "thrown off" for several years as the US military did not want the public or other nations to have access to the same level of precision that they were using for precision bombing. The GPS systems today have very high accuracy.

                                                          #18.4 - Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:01 PM EST
                                                          Reply

                                                          Try Googling "Chicago Climate Exchange" to learn how that company, which was founded in 2000 with funding from the leftist Joyce Foundation and engineered by then-Board Member Barak Obama (acting as attorney and administrator, he drew up the protocols and statutes of the Exchange) and Exchange Chairman Richard Sandor (former chief economist for the Chicago Board of Trade and widely known as "Mr. Derivative", the principal architect of interest rate futures markets) planned to gain for their investors hundreds of billions of dollars on the backs of the taxpayers of the United States and Great Britain.

                                                          Major investors included Goldman-Sachs, Fannie Mae, Al Gore, and many others. The Board of Directors of the CCX included:

                                                          Canadian Maurice Strong, organizer of the 1972 Stockholm environmental summit for the United Nations and former Secretary General of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

                                                          Rajenra Pachauri, head of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that was caught red-handed faking data

                                                          Elizabeth Dowdeswell, former head of the UN Environmental Program

                                                          Michael Jammit Cutajar, former head of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change

                                                          Thomas Lovejoy, former World Wildlife Fund executive vice president and science adviser to the UN Environmental Program

                                                          It was estimated that, after Obama was elected and passed the "Cap and Trade" legislation, the world-wide market of carbon futures would surpass the trillion dollar per year mark and that the Chicago Carbon Exchange would be a major marketplace for carbon credits.

                                                            Reply#19 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:28 AM EST

                                                            Yes, people are positioning themselves to make money. And it would be very stupid for them to do so if global warming wasn't real. So this evidence supports AGW.

                                                            • 1 vote
                                                            #19.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 5:36 PM EST
                                                            Reply

                                                            Why do so many of you people even attempt to argue with these people that don't believe the science of global warming.

                                                            Science, yes, science!....Only a moron would dispute science, so therefore, you are arguing with a moron......These "we need more study on this" people are really irrelevant......

                                                            These non-believers will be the first ones to ask what the govt is doing to fix the problem when it can't be fixed any longer.

                                                            Next time one of these morons makes a stupid statement on global warming simply ask them if their keeper knows they are out.

                                                            • 2 votes
                                                            Reply#20 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 2:35 PM EST

                                                            It's too easy, shooting fish in a barrel because they choke on their own ignorance, fear and loathing. "I am an angry white man! Listen to me, dammit, I hate Obama!"

                                                              #20.1 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:56 PM EST
                                                              Reply

                                                              aUGG! me caveman back to fire form bic.........Pretty

                                                                Reply#21 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 5:41 PM EST

                                                                I think they all wrong!! that one Mayan calender says 2012 it ! And they cant be wrong ! I mean who's ever been wrong about predicting the end of the world?

                                                                  Reply#22 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 5:44 PM EST

                                                                  The sky is falling, the sky is falling! No wait, we are floating up to it...whew, what a relief!

                                                                    Reply#23 - Tue Dec 13, 2011 5:51 PM EST

                                                                    When will the real estate hucksters come to Greenland to start selling "futures"?

                                                                    We may see some interesting things in the way of Evolution as the ice melts....

                                                                      Reply#24 - Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:47 AM EST
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