Greenland Is Melting And The World Should Be Worried | Episode 2

Scientists expected ice to melt in Greenland, but not to this extent, or this fast.  An unprecedented heat wave triggered an epic ice melt, 50 years ahead of its expected time, in Greenland. Billions of tons of historic ice melted away causing a torrent of frigid ice water to etch a path as it made its way to the ocean.  In one day alone, enough ice melted to fill over four million swimming pools. With nearly 70 per cent of earth’s population living within 150 km of a coastline, the impacts of this melting trend is monumental.

At the moment, Greenland is the biggest contributor to the rise of global sea levels – the big question is how fast and by how much? While the world waits for that answer – the current impact has been documented.  Martin Stendel, a climate scientist from the Danish Meteorological Institute says,  “The sea level has risen already by  one cm in the last 15 years, from Greenland ice sheet melting alone.”  Stendel has been recording the changes for years and believes that flooding is not the only concern. Stindel says that researchers are also looking at the consequences of these water flows in relation to the possibility of altering the global jet stream and active weather patterns.

On this episode of The Big Blue Marble, we explore the cause, the effects and “if” Greenland’s melting ice sheet has pushed us to the tipping point – that being a catastrophic unrecoverable change, with no turning back.

         

 

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