Greenland Continuing To Darken
By Countercurrents
19 April, 2015
Countercurrents.org
Dr. Marco Tedesco, head of The City College of New York's Cryospheric Processes Laboratory, spoke about the darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet at a press conference in Vienna. Credit: Marco Tedesco
Darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet is projected to continue as a consequence of continued climate warming, Dr. Marco Tedesco, a City College of New York scientist, said at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna today.
Tedesco said that the projection is based on a model that only accounts for the effects of warming on snow grain size and melting.
An associate professor in City College's Division of Science and head of its Cryospheric Processes Laboratory that he founded, Tedesco is an authority on the Greenland Ice Sheet where he has conducted annual research.
He noted that a darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet associated with increasing temperatures and enhanced melting occurred between 1996 and 2012. It was promoted by:
(1) Extensively and persistently increased surface snow grain size;
(2) The expansion and persistency of the areas of exposed bare ice and by the increased surface impurities concentration associated with the appearance of dirty ice; and
(3) Increased impurities concentrations due to consolidation with snowmelt.
Tedesco, however, added that his research had not found any evidence that points to either increased atmospheric deposition of impurities or to the number of fires over Eurasia and North America as being factors.
Story Source:
The story is based on materials provided by City College of New York.
Source:
City College of New York. "Greenland continuing to darken." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 April 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150417103743.htm>.
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