Greenland glacier melting faster than expected

Research finds Greenland glacier melting faster than expected. A key glacier in Greenland is melting faster than previously expected, according to findings by a team of academics, including Edward Hanna from University of Sheffield. Hanna, from the University of Sheffield's Department of Geography, was part of a team of researchers that also included Sebastian Mernild from the Los Alamos Laboratory, USA, and Professor Niels Tvis Knudsen from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. The team´s new findings present crucial insight into the effects of climate change. The researchers found that Greenland's longest-observed glacier, Mittivakkat Glacier, made two consecutive record losses in mass observations for 2010 and 2011. The observations indicate that the total 2011 mass budget loss was 2.45 metres, 0.29 metres higher than the previous observed record loss in 2010. The 2011 value was also significantly above the 16-year average observed loss of 0.97 metres per year.