Why are the ice sheets in Greenland melting?

Answer 1

The Greenland ice SHEET is melting at an accelerating rate, now over 100 cubic kilometers per year, which contributes about 0.35mm by itself to sea level rise each year.

Source:

Ramillien, G., A. Lombard, A. Cazenave, E. R. Ivins, M. Llubes, F. Remy, and R. Biancale (2006), Interannual variations of the mass balance of the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets from GRACE, Global Planet.Change, 53(3), 198-208, doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2006.06.003.

Answer 2

The only thing to do to stop the Greenland ice cap melting it to slow and eventually reverse global warming.

To do this we have to stop emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is mostly done when we burn fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) in industry, transport and to generate electricity.

We also cut down great forests all around the world, which used to absorb and store carbon.

So we have to quickly find other ways of powering transport and generating electricity, and we have to replant the forests.

Answer 3

Global warming is melting ice all over the world. In Greenland there are ravines in the ice which are allowing melt water to go down to the rock under the ice cap. This seems to be letting glaciers move faster towards the sea where they break off to form icebergs.

Answer 4

Glaciers all over the world are melting. There are individual glaciers here and there that are not melting constantly, or even have periods of growth. This does not change the fact that on average the world's glaciers are seriously melting.

this, of course has serious consequences for the great rivers of the world and the people who rely on them for existence, because glaciers are the source for many of these rivers, and if the glaciers disappear, the rivers will be seriously diminished.

The amount of ice lost from 1986-1995 was double the mass loss of 1976-1985, and the mass loss from 1986-1995 was more than double again, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, which has been collecting data on glaciers since 1946.

Answer 5

The world is getting warmer. This is probably the result of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, resulting from the burning of fossil fuels for the past few centuries.

Answer 6

A) Too fast too soon; and B) water running to the base of Glaciers acts as a process speeding lubricant; and C) the outflow of cold, fresh water can shut down the warm Atlantic Gulf Stream.