Clear Skies Drove the Biggest-Ever Drop in Greenland’s Ice Sheet
Clear skies and more sunlight over Greenland last summer resulted in the biggest drop in the ice sheet's mass ever recorded, new research shows.
The phenomenon was linked to an exceptional high-pressure system that prevented the formation of clouds, according to a study led by Marco Tedesco from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. That suggests climate models that don't incorporate atmospheric data could be underestimating future melting by about half, Tedesco said in commentary accompanying the research.
"These atmospheric conditions are becoming more and more frequent over the past few decades," he said. "Simulations of future impacts are very likely underestimating the mass loss due to climate change."
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