A RESEARCHER from Sheffield University has contributed to a pioneering study that has revealed how the Greenland ice sheet is affected by global warming.
The research findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, revealed the sensitivity of the ice sheet to climate change and can be used to help predict its future response to global warming.
The study was conducted by an international team o
f academics, led by Prof Eric Rignot of NASA's jet propulsion laboratory and the University of California, and included Dr Edward Hanna, from Sheffield University's geography department.
The team compared satellite and aircraft measurements of ice discharge –the amount of ice being discharged from the ice sheet at various
locations – with surface mass balance changes – the snow gained each year minus the snow and ice lost through surface melt.
The research will enable further studies to more reliably predict the likely effects of climate change on the ice sheet.
Dr Hanna said: "There hasn't been a lot of previous work linking glaciological with meteorological changes on the Greenland ice sheet because scientists in different disciplines have not always worked together, but luckily this is changing.
"Our unique overview should prove useful for interpreting the sensitivity and response of the Greenland ice sheet to ongoing climate change including human-induced global warming."
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