Neven/NSIDC - Greenland Melt: Late Start, Rapid Spread

[hatrack]

Springtime melt in Greenland: Late start, rapid spread

June 21, 2013

Surface melting of the snow and ice of the Greenland Ice Sheet had a slightly late start, but quickly spread over a significant area, extending over more than 20% of the ice sheet in early June and reaching above 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) elevation in some areas. Small melt lakes have begun to form on the ice sheet, as seen by the new USGS/NASA Landsat-8 satellite.

Overview of conditions

After the annual re-calibration of the melt algorithm in mid March (see March 18 post), very little melt was detected until May. A few southern coastal areas began melting in mid-May, followed by inland higher-elevation ice and all remaining coastal areas about June 3, when warmer conditions arrived. Surface melting reached the “Saddle” region of the ice sheet (located where the pale bluish band extends from the east to the west coastal zones in Figure 1) on June 11 and 13. Only the central eastern coast remains relatively melt free.

Conditions in context

At this point, the pace of melt is well above average, but well behind the early, intense start seen in the record 2012 season (see February 5 post).

Rising temperatures

After a spike in melt area in early June, cooler conditions have brought the melt area near the average extent of ~20% of the ice sheet.

Cool conditions in April and May shifted to warmer-than-average weather along both coasts in early June, which initiated more widespread melt on the ice sheet. This shift roughly coincided with a larger change in the Arctic Oscillation from near-neutral conditions to slightly positive, and a shift from generally easterly and northerly winds to southwesterlies. The sea ice on both sides of Greenland remained at near-normal extent through the period.

EDIT

http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2013/07/meanwhile-on-greenland.html#more




EDIT

http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2013/07/meanwhile-on-greenland.html#more

[newfie11]

1. Mean while oil, fracking, methane is continuing

What planet do these people plan on living on.

[n2doc]

2. The word "plan" never enters their minds

Except to plan out the next planet-rape.

[joshcryer]

3. One in which geoengineering is the go-to solution.

The elitists are not going to mitigate climate change, they're going to engineer a way out of it.

But it'll have a mixed success rate.