Greenland ice melted 17 times faster amid May heatwave, say scientists

COPENHAGEN: Greenland’s ice sheet melted at 17 times the usual rate during a May heatwave that also swept across Iceland, the World Weather Attribution (WWA) scientific network said in a report on Wednesday.

The Arctic region, warming at four times the global average since 1979, remains one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, according to a 2022 study published in Nature.

"The melting rate of the Greenland ice sheet by, from a preliminary analysis, a factor of 17... means the Greenland ice sheet contribution to sea level rise is higher than it would have otherwise been without this heat wave," one of the authors of the report, Friederike Otto, associate professor in climate science at the Imperial College London, told reporters.

"Without climate change this would have been impossible," she said.

In Iceland, the temperature exceeded 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) on May 15, unprecedented for that time of year on the subarctic island.

"Temperatures over Iceland as observed this May are record-breaking, more than 13°C hotter than the 1991-2020 average May daily maximum temperatures," the WWA said.

In May, 94% of Iceland's weather stations registered record temperatures, according to the country's meteorological institute.

In eastern Greenland, the hottest day during the heatwave was about 3.9°C warmer compared to the preindustrial climate, the WWA said.

"While a heatwave that is around 20°C might not sound like an extreme event from the experience of most people around the world, it is a really big deal for this part of the world," Otto said.

"It affects the whole world massively," she said.

According to the WWA, the record highs observed in Iceland and Greenland this May could reoccur every 100 years.

For Greenland's indigenous communities, the warmer temperatures and melting ice affect their ability to hunt on the ice, posing a threat to their livelihood and traditional way of life.

The changes also affect infrastructure in the two countries.

"In Greenland and Iceland, infrastructure is built for cold weather, meaning during a heatwave ice melt can lead to flooding and damage roads and infrastructure," the WWA said.