Greenland may lose ice at a must quicker pace, compared to past 12,000 years, if the human society does not stop the emission of greenhouse gases, study suggests.
In the research published in the journal Nature, models of ice sheets were studied to understand the past, present as well as future of Greenland’s ice. The findings of the research suggest that ice sheets are declining at a faster pace in the present time and Greenland could lose an extreme amount of ice in the 21st century. Jason Briner, Ph.D., Professor at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences said that the humans have altered the planet so much that the pace at which these ice sheets are melting in this century is greater than anything observed for the past 12,000 years. If the greenhouse gas emission is not curbed significantly, we might face water scarcity at an extreme level. He also added that countries across the world need to take serious actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to mitigate the sea level rise and prevent melting of ice sheets.
The published study has presented a timeline of Greenland’s past, present and future. The timeline consists of the temperature change across Greenland and shows how greenhouse gases have affected the ice sheets. The results are eye opening and suggest countries to take severe actions. Unless everyone tries to lower carbon emission rates, the pace at which ice is melting is more likely to increase in the near future. The authors of the study also added that these results are a wake-up call for the entire world as energy consumption in the U.S. is increasing steadily each day compared with any other country. Switching to more renewable resources is also one of the solutions which do not produce much heat.