Update on Greenland ice extent

Inspired by the incorrect reporting of Greenland ice cover loss in the latest edition of the Times Atlas, scientists have produced an up to date asessment of Greenland ice cover, and it is published in The Cryopshere Discussions, which is the open review process publication for The Cryopshere:

Abstract: A map of Greenland in the 13th edition (2011) of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World made headlines because the publisher’s media release mistakenly stated that the permanent ice cover had shrunk 15% since the previous 10th edition (1999) revision. The claimed shrinkage was immediately challenged by glaciologists, then retracted by the publisher. Here we show: (1) accurate maps of ice extent based on 1978/1987 aerial surveys and recent MODIS imaging; and (2) shrinkage at 0.019% per year in ~50 000 square kilometers of ice in a part of east Greenland that is shown as ice-free in the Times Atlas.

The Cryosphere and The Cryosphere Discussions are open access, and the peer-review process is available for anyone to follow online as well.

The full article is available here: http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/5/3207/2011/tcd-5-3207-2011.pdf and I encourage you to also look at the supplementary material, which is available here: http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/5/3207/2011/tcd-5-3207-2011-supplement.pdf

About lindsey

Environmental scientist. I am glaciologist specialising in glacier-climate interactions to better understand the climate system. The point of this is to understand how glaciated envionments might change in the future - how the glaciers will respond and what the impact on associated water resources and hazard potential will be.
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