Climate change is causing Greenland’s massive icesheets to melt much faster than previously thought. According to research published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the ice loss in 2012 — more than 400 billion tonnes — reached nearly four times the rate in 2003. Michael Bevis, the study’s lead author and a professor of geodynamics at Ohio State University, said, “The only thing we can do is adapt and mitigate further global warming — it’s too late for there to be no effect,” adding “we are watching the icesheet hit a tipping point.”
A CNN report said the findings could have dire implications for the planet’s low lying islands and coastal cities. The world is “losing the race” against climate change, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned in a speech at Davos, demanding bolder action from governments to arrest catastrophic warming.
Picture shows an iceberg floating in a fjord near the town of Tasiilaq, Greenland. — Reuters
