Study alters Greenland glacier melt view Leeds, England (UPI)
Jan 26, 2011 Warm summer temperatures may not melt the Greenland
ice sheet as fast as previously feared and may actually slow the
flow of glaciers, British researchers say. Scientists at the
University of Leeds say they believe increased melting in warmer
years causes the internal drainage system of the ice sheet to
adapt and accommodate more melt-water without speeding up the
flow of ice toward the oceans, a university release said
Wednesday. The Greenland ice sheet covers roughly 80 percent of
the island and contains enough water to raise sea levels by 22
feet if it were to melt completely. Rising temperatures in the
Arctic in recent years have caused the ice sheet to shrink,
prompting fears that it may be close to a tipping point of no
return. The Leeds researchers used satellite observations of six
landlocked glaciers in southwest Greenland to study how ice flow
develops in years of markedly different melting. "It had been
thought that more sur