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The Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise is in Greenland this summer documenting signs and impacts of climate change in this part of the Arctic. The scientists responsible for both discoveries are conducting an independently-funded study into glacier variations as evidence of recent climate change, and are from the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, USA.
Outlet glaciers like Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq transport ice from the heart of the Greenland Ice Sheet to the ocean and discharge icebergs, which contribute to sea level rise.
Together, Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq glaciers drain ice from six percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet, so any changes in the speed of these glaciers holds tremendous significance in terms of sea level rise.
"This is the second dramatic finding in as many weeks," said Dr. Gordon Hamilton, who undertook the measurements on Kangerdlugssuaq and Helheim glaciers on Greenland's east coast with university of Maine PhD student Leigh Stearns. "If Helheim glacier has increased its speed by about 50 percent, then a significant amount more ice will be transported out of the Greenland Ice Sheet towards the ocean. If other glaciers start to behave like Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq glaciers, flowing faster and discharging more ice into the ocean, then, unless balanced by an equivalent increase in snowfall, sea level rise could be larger and faster than previously estimated."
Both glaciers were measured in the last half of July using high precision GPS survey methods. Helheim Glacier's velocity was 11.3 km/year, compared with eight km/year measured in 2001 using satellite imagery. In addition, Helheim Glacier retreated 4.5 km since 2001 after maintaining a stable position since at least 1972. Helheim Glacier is moving so fast that time-lapse footage
over an eight-hour period shows the glacier "flowing" like a river of ice.
