What Arctic ice tells us about climate change

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

🗞️ Driving the news: The frozen beauty of the Greenland ice sheet belies its fragility in the face of climate change
• While it might seem timeless and unchanging, NASA research reveals Greenland loses an average of 270 gigatons of ice annually

🔭 The context: Despite its icy façade, Greenland is among the regions warming the fastest globally 
• Arctic temperatures are already 3°C warmer than in 1979
• The alarming rate of warming is due to a feedback loop caused by diminishing sea ice

🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: The Greenland ice sheet's melt contributes significantly to rising sea levels
• As land ice melts and flows into the ocean, sea levels rise by approximately three-quarters of a millimeter every year
• The ramifications for coastal communities are already evident, with "sunny day flooding" having doubled in the U.S. in just 20 years

⏭️ What's next: Greenland's melting trajectory suggests dire predictions
• Even if global greenhouse gas emissions stopped immediately, the ice sheet is still projected to lose over 110 trillion tons of ice by 2100: this would result in nearly a foot of global sea level rise

💬 One quote: “The Greenland ice sheet is probably patient number one in the climate system” (Joerg Schaefer, a leading climate geochemist)

📈 One stat: If Greenland's ice sheet were to melt entirely, global sea levels could rise by an estimated 24 feet, which could erase lands currently home to over 375 million people

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