Earth ID: 30478

Greenland Ice Loss 2003-2013

Released on October 8, 2013

There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30879

The mass of the Greenland ice sheet has rapidly been declining over the last several years due to surface melting and iceberg calving. Research based on observations from NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites indicates that between 2003 and 2013, Greenland shed approximately 280 gigatons of ice per year, causing global sea level to rise by 0.8 millimeters per year. These images, created with GRACE data, show changes in Greenland ice mass since 2003. Orange and red shades indicate areas that lost ice mass, while light blue shades indicate areas that gained ice mass. White indicates areas where there has been very little or no change in ice mass since 2003. In general, higher-elevation areas near the center of Greenland experienced little to no change, while lower-elevation and coastal areas experienced up to 3 meters of ice mass loss (dark red) over a ten-year period. The largest mass decreases of up to 30 centimeters per year occurred over southeastern Greenland.

Newer Version

For More Information

http://grace.jpl.nasa.gov

Credits

Felix W. Landerer (NASA/JPL CalTech): Scientist
Marit Jentoft-Nilsen: Visualizer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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Mission:
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)

Data Used:

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)

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Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glacier Mass Balance/Ice Sheet Mass Balance
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Ice Sheets
GCMD >> Location >> Greenland
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Presentation

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0