Temperatures soar to record highs Greenland this week in some places up to 28 degrees above normal.

This early warm period could make the region’s ice even more vulnerable to melt this summer, the researchers said.

The recent summer has caused record melting of huge ice masses, which are the biggest contributor to sea level rise worldwide.

“It was definitely a very unusual episode to have such a high temperature recorded in the middle of winter,” said Ruth Mottram, a climatologist at the Danish Meteorological Institute.

Heatwaves in Greenland raised the mercury column in its capital Nuuk to 15.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday, a record temperature for March and April, expert Maximiliano Herrera said.

Exceptionally high temperatures in West Greenland.
Yesterday, the capital city of Nuuk rose to 15.2C in the early hours of the morning, supported by Fenian winds, beating both March and April monthly records. https://t.co/NdERaYl1Zv

— Extreme temperatures around the world (@extremetemps) March 5, 2023

Researchers at the Danish Meteorological Institute confirmed the record, saying last Sunday’s temperature surpassed the previous March record of 13.2 degrees in 2016 and the record of 14.6 degrees in April 2019.

It is noted that the average March high in Nuuk, which is located on the southwestern coast of the island, is about -5 degrees Celsius!

Analysis of computer models showed even more anomalous temperatures in the northern part of the island, from 17 to 28 degrees Celsius above seasonal values.

The high temperatures are associated with what meteorologists call the Greenland Block, a high-pressure stagnant zone that causes air to sink and heat up underneath.

This heat wave may not cause widespread melting of the ice sheets right now, but the researchers say it could have implications for future heat waves.

“Any further warming even before the melting period could be a condition for premature ice melt,” explains Jason Box, a researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.

Due to anthropogenic climate change, the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world, and scientists’ ominous predictions point to further rapid warming and ice melting in the future.

Scientists in this study claim that the Greenland ice sheet would lose about 3% of its volume even if greenhouse gas emissions stopped today.

Source: Washington Post.