Greenland Bedrock Topographic Map
Created using ETOPO1 Global Relief Model bedrock version
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html
Greenland holds about 10% of the world's ice. If it all melts, sea level would rise 6-7 meters (20+ feet).
Greenland ice growth began almost 10 million years ago and reached roughly current levels more than 2 million years ago.
Over the past 2 million years, ice sheets repeatedly grew and shrank across Canada, the northern US, most of Siberia, and most of northern Europe. We call these periods Ice Ages. At their peak, these ice sheets held twice as much ice as Antarctica does today. (See Hansen 0913 on Overviews page for a geologically recent history of sea level.) From 20 to 8 thousand years ago (KYa), those ice sheets vanished, raising sea levels by 1 meter per century, including 1.5 meter per century from 15 to 8 KYa.
Some researchers (Robinson, Koenig) have made the case that current CO2 levels are incompatible with continued existence of the Greenland ice cap or sheet, especially once temperatures increase to those associated with past CO2 levels this high (~ 400 ppm).
Perhaps 20% of Greenland's ice is grounded below sea level. But most of that is inland sea, not connected to the ocean. Maybe 5% to the ocean.
Rising Concerns - Sea Level Rise and its Causes 0626.rtf
Projecting Response of Greenland Peripheral Glaciers to Future Warming- Glacier Losses, Sea Level Impact, Freshwater Contributions, Peak Water Timing 0226.rtfWhy Sea Levels Are Rising the Fastest in the Last 4,000 Years 1025.rtfModels Underestimate Ice Melting Where Greenland Glaciers Touch the Sea 0925.rtfGreenland Survey Reveals ‘Crazy’ Amounts of Ocean Warming 0825.rtfShrinking the Greenland Ice Sheet Can’t Be Stopped, but It Must Be Slowed 0325.rtfDomino Effect - Melting Greenland Ice Could Trigger Amazon Rainforest Collapse 0325.rtfResource-Rich Greenland Ice Loss Threatens Big Sea Level Rise, AMOC 0125.rtfGreenland Ice Sheet Is Cracking Faster than Ever 0225.rtf1,000s of Greenland Blue Lakes Turn Brown Overnight, from Extreme Weather 0225.rtfClimate Change Triggered Landslide, 110 Meter Tsunami, 9-Day Earth Vibration 0924.rtfNews about AMOC and Greenland and Antarctic Ice, in Scenarios 0824.rtfNew Fossils Reveal an Ice-Free Greenland, in Bad News for Sea Level Rise 0824.rtfGreenland Is Losing More Ice than We Thought, What It Means for Our Oceans. 0124.rtfGreenland’s Ice Shelves Hold Back Sea Level Rise. There Are Just 5 Left. 21123.rtfWhat Arctic Ice Tells Us about Climate Change 0823.rtf - Greenland ice sheet in its entirety is threatened. The Arctic is warming 4 x as fast as the rest of Earth's surface. This impacts sea level rise and ocean currents. Etc.Long-Lost Greenland Ice Core Suggests Potential Disastrous Sea Level Rise 0723.rtf - See a different summary on the Heat page, Paleo section.Acceleration of Global Sea Level Rise Imminent past 1.8°C - 0223.rtfClick for moreContribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Sea Level over the Next Millennium 0619.rtf
5-33 cm by 2100 and 56-720 cm by 3000, depending on emissions scenario and other factors. Panel A is about temperature increase at Greenland and Panel B is about sea level rise as a result for Greenland. RCP 8.5 is the fastest global temperature rise modeled and RCP 2.6 the slowest.
Below that (top 4) are maps for the year 3000 of ice-freee areas now and under under the scenarios.
Fig. 2 Observed 2008 state and simulations of the Greenland Ice Sheet at year 3000.(A) Observed 2008 ice extent (53). (B to D) Likelihood (percentiles) of ice cover as percentage of the ensemble simulations with nonzero ice thickness. Likelihoods less than the 16th percentile are masked. (E) Multi-year composite of observed surface speeds (61). (F to H) Surface speeds from the control simulation. Basin names shown in (A) in clockwise order are southwest (SW), central-west (CW), northwest (NW), north (NO), northeast (NE), and southeast (SE). RCP 2.6 (B and F), RCP 4.5 (C and G), and RCP 8.5 (D and H). Topography in meters above sea level (m a.s.l.) [(A) to (H)].
An Arctic Ice Cap’s Shockingly Rapid Slide into the Sea 0115.rtf
Svalbard / Spitzbergen actually
Section Map: Ice