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A rumble echoed around the world for nine days. Here’s what caused it

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By illuminem briefings

· 1 min read


illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Washington Post or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: A mysterious seismic rumble that lasted nine days worldwide was traced to a mega-tsunami in Greenland, triggered by a massive landslide in 2023
• It took an international collaboration of 70 scientists from 15 countries and over 8,000 messages to solve the mystery

🔭 The context: As climate change accelerates glacial melt, a weakened glacier in eastern Greenland gave way, causing a 500-foot-thick rockslide
• The rock and ice plunged into a fjord, creating a 650-foot-high tsunami, one of the highest in recent history

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This event exemplifies the dangerous consequences of climate change, which is destabilizing glaciers and mountain slopes, increasing the risk of such destructive natural disasters

⏭️ What's next: As temperatures continue to rise, scientists expect more landslide-triggered events in Greenland and other polar regions, further amplifying the need for climate action

💬 One quote: “The root cause of this lies in climate change,” said Alice Gabriel, seismologist and co-author of the study

📈 One stat: The landslide unleashed enough material to fill 10,000 Olympic-size swimming pools

Click for more news covering the latest on climate change

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