Greenland's ice melting faster than scientists previously thought, study finds

Greenland is melting faster than scientists previously thought with its ice being lost nearly four times more quickly than in 2003, a study has found.

The findings suggest the ice sheet has reached “tipping point”, with the lead author of the study claiming humanity may have passed the point of no return in the fight against climate change.

Researchers have warned of rising sea levels caused by the melting glaciers.

The findings could have dire implications for coastal cities in the US, including New York and Miami, as well as island nations that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, the study said.

“The only thing we can do is adapt,” Michael Bevis, professor of geodynamics and lead author of The Ohio State University's study, said. “It’s too late for there to be no effect.

"This is going to cause additional sea level rise. We are watching the ice sheet hit a tipping point.”

Scientists concerned about sea level rise have long focused on Greenland’s southeast and northwest regions, where large glaciers stream iceberg-sized chunks of ice into the Atlantic Ocean.

But the new study found that the largest sustained ice loss from early 2003 to mid-2013 came from Greenland’s southwest region, which is mostly devoid of large glaciers.

That melting, which Mr Bevis and his co-authors believe is largely caused by global warming, means that in the southwestern part of Greenland, growing rivers of water are streaming into the ocean during summer.

Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study determined that southwest Greenland, previously not considered a serious threat, will likely become a major future contributor to sea level rise.

“We knew we had one big problem with increasing rates of ice discharge by some large outlet glaciers,” Mr Bevis said. “But now we recognize a second serious problem - increasingly, large amounts of ice mass are going to leave as meltwater, as rivers that flow into the sea. And there is no turning back.”

Patterns found by scientists revealed ice was being lost at nearly four times the rate that prevailed in 2003, with the biggest acceleration in southwest Greenland.

The natural weather phenomenon North Atlantic Oscillation, which brings warmed air to west Greenland, was building on man-made climate change to cause “unprecedented levels of melting and runoff”, Mr Bevis said.

The North Atlantic Oscillation is a natural cycle that causes ice to melt under normal circumstances. However, when combined with man-made global warming the effects are supercharged.

“These oscillations have been happening forever,” Mr Bevis added. “So why only now are they causing this massive melt? It’s because the atmosphere is, at its baseline, warmer. The transient warming driven by the North Atlantic Oscillation was riding on top of more sustained, global warming.”

Mr Bevis said these new findings show that scientists need to be watching the island’s snowpack and ice fields more closely, especially in and near southwest Greenland.

“We’re going to see faster and faster sea level rise for the foreseeable future,” he said. “Once you hit that tipping point, the only question is: How severe does it get?”