Scientists reveal unexpected cause of change in massive glacier: 'We should be concerned about this'

Scientists from Norway and the United States have discovered an unexpected cause behind the melting of Europe's third largest glacier, known as Austfonna — meaning "eastern ice cap." Their findings explain why the glacier has been shrinking even when it has been cold outside.

What's happening?

Austfonna is an ice cap, a domed glacier flowing outward in every direction. This one currently covers a huge portion of Nordaustlandet, an island that is part of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Austfonna is retreating — or melting — and a team of scientists wanted to understand why. 

Researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, the University of Oregon, and at least three Norwegian universities have discovered that warming ocean waters — rather than simply the warming atmosphere — have been a main cause behind the melting of the glacier front. 

This explains why Austfonna has melted even during some of the colder and darker days in the Arctic. "Ocean temperature controls the observed frontal ablation," the team wrote in a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications. 

The co-authors continued, "The immediate response of frontal ablation to seasonal ocean warming suggests that marine-terminating glaciers in high Arctic regions exposed to Atlantification are prone to rapid changes that should be accounted for in future glacier projections."

"Atlantification" describes the warming of Arctic Ocean waters.

Why is this melting of the Austfonna glacier significant?

Whereas a warming atmosphere was previously "thought to have a major effect on melting," the Barents Observer noted this new study's significance in underscoring the real impacts of ocean warming on glacier mass loss.

"The warm ocean retains energy better than the atmosphere. That's something we've found — that the ocean can stay warm well into autumn, cause melting and calving of glacier fronts," study co-author Geir Moholdt told the Barents Observer. "We should be concerned about this because glacier mass loss happens all over the world." 

Glacier melting is a driver of sea level rise, the rate of which has "doubled since satellite measurements began," according to the World Meteorological Organization's latest State of the Global Climate report. 

Rising sea levels are eroding land and threatening communities in the Arctic. Sea level rise also poses great risks to U.S. coastlines and coastlines everywhere, with residents increasingly vulnerable to storm surges and flooding.

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What can be done about melting glaciers?

The root cause of glacier melting is a build-up of heat-trapping gases in Earth's atmosphere. Transitioning to renewable energy sources and away from dirty energy can help mitigate the crisis and its effects.

Making your next car purchase an electric vehicle — new or used — could help reduce the abundance of carbon pollution that warms our planet. Modernizing your home with the installation of solar panels or a heat pump can also meaningfully curb harmful emissions.

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