According to a new study released by the American Geophysical Union’s journal Geophysical Research Letters, the melting of Greenland’s ice caps has increased by over 10 percent in the past two decades due to downslope winds.
Charlie Zender, Co-Author of the study, explained, “We used regional climate model simulations to study ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, and the results showed that downslope winds are responsible for a significant amount of surface melt of the ice sheets in both regions.”
“Surface melt leads to runoff and ice shelf hydrofracture that increase freshwater flow to oceans – causing sea level rise,” continues Zender.
In Greenland, the rise in temperatures can induce melting. Then, when mixed with wind-induced melting of over 10 percent, this equates to a 34 percent surge in overall surface ice melting.
Zender attributes this to the effects of global warming.
