In 2021, Greenland’s ice sheets lost more volume in the melting season than the volume it gained during the winter season for 25 years back to back, according to a new UN endorsed report.

The State of the Climate report was published by the Danish Arctic monitoring service, Polar Portal, which is part of the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The report states that there was a peculiar 2021 summer which had heavy and late snowfall which was immediately followed bye extreme heatwave at the end of July and led to a significant loss of ice. For a 1-year period till August 2021, there was a total loss of 166 billion tonnes of ice although not all the volume was lost due to climate change alone as some was lost due to normal ice sheet-seawater contact. The volume of the ice sheets has been on the record for the past 41 years. Last year was the 28th lowest in recorded history with 396 billion tonnes of ice remaining at the end of the season. 2021 could have been considered an average year but the consensus have changed due to the worsening climate change situation.

It was also highlighted that the unusual chills experienced in early summer could be due to the atmospheric conditions in southwest Canada and northwest United States. A huge “blocking” high pressure system was formed in these regions shaped like the Greek capital letter Omega (?). The report notes that this flow pattern is a normal occurrence in the troposphere and is not limited to North America. However, this is the first time that it was in such strength and human induced climate warming could be the only reason, according to the report.

The report concludes by pointing out how 2021was a notable year. Precipitation was recorded in the form of rain at Summit Station, which is situated at the top of the ice sheet at an altitude of 3200 meters above sea level. Lastly, 2021 also saw an increased rate of loss of ice at Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, which had no loss of ice for a number of years.

Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1109352