2024-03-02 07:00:05
The melting of the ice in Greenland, a silent but profound transformation, marks the evolution of our planet in the face of global warming. Over the past three decades, approximately 28,707 km² of the ice cap and glaciers of the Greenland (Greenland (pronounced /gʁɔɛn.lɑ̃d/, written Groënland in…) have disappeared, a territory (The notion of territory has taken on increasing importance in geography and particularly in…) comparable to the size of Albania. This loss, although representing 1.6% of Greenland’s total ice cover, signals major environmental changes, with potentially wide-ranging consequences for the global ecosystem.
Researchers from the University of Leeds examined the evolution of Greenland, the largest island in the world, using historical satellite records dating back to the 1980s. They observed not only a significant reduction in icy areas but also a marked increase in the vegetation (Vegetation is all wild or cultivated plants (flora) which…), which more than doubled over the study period. This increasing “greenness”, however, should not be seen as a necessarily positive development. She is the symptom (A symptom represents one of the subjective manifestations of a disease or process…) of a growing ecological imbalance, induced by increasing temperatures.
Greenland has been warming at twice the global average since the 1970s, with palpable consequences for its landscape. Ice losses, concentrated mainly around current glaciers and in certain specific regions, give way to bare lands, wetlands and shrubby areas. This phenomenon, beyond modifying the composition of the soil, also influences the temperature of the earth’s surface, accelerates gas emissions greenhouse effect (The greenhouse effect is a natural process which, for a given absorption of energy…) and destabilizes the landscape, notably through the degradation of permafrost.
The loss of ice influences the albedo, or the reflective capacity of the Earth’s surface, leading to further warming. The formerly white and reflective areas, which reflected thesolar energy (Solar energy is the energy provided by the sun through its radiation, directly or from…) towards space, give way to dark rocks or bodies of water, which absorb more heat (In everyday language, the words heat and temperature often have an equivalent meaning:…). At the same time, the increase in wetlands, particularly in the east and northeast (Northeast is the direction halfway between the north and east cardinal points. Northeast…) of Greenland, intensifies emissions of methane (Methane is a hydrocarbon with the chemical formula CH4. It is the simplest compound of…)a powerful greenhouse gas.
When we compare soil types between the 1980s and the 2010s, we see that green areas, i.e. where plants grow, have increased, especially in the southwest and northeast. East.
Credit: University of Leeds
Researchers warn that these changes are not without consequences for indigenous populations, whose traditional subsistence practices depend on the stability of these fragile ecosystems. The expansion of vegetation, combined with the retreat of glaciers and ice sheets, also changes the flow of sediments and nutrients to coastal waters, with potential impacts on marine biodiversity.
Greenland’s ice retreat is an alarming indicator of global warming, contributing significantly to sea level rise. This phenomenon, which extends beyond the borders of Greenland, underlines the urgency of adopting measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions and preserve the natural balances of our planet (A planet is a celestial body orbiting the Sun or another star in…).
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