Decades of Change: Rapid Shrinkage of Greenland's Glaciers Visualized in Before-and-After Photos
Greenland's glaciers are rapidly vanishing Startling before-and-after photos expose the stark reality of decades-long transformation, revealing that the retreat rate in the 21st century has doubled compared to the previous century
During her visit to Denmark in 2019, climate scientist Laura Larocca explored a vast collection of ancient aerial photographs depicting Greenland's frozen coastline. These photographs, found in a castle near Copenhagen approximately 15 years ago, are now held in the Danish National Archives. Encouraged by these historical images, Larocca and other researchers embarked on a project to unravel the glacial history of the region and understand its transformations in the face of a rapidly warming climate.
Larocca's team digitized thousands of paper images from the 1930s and combined them with current satellite images of Greenland to assess the changes in its frozen landscape. The findings from the comparison revealed a concerning increase in Greenland's glacier retreat, which has been accelerating in the past two decades. Published in Nature Climate Change, the study indicates that the pace of glacial retreat in the 21st century has doubled compared to the previous century.
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Niels Jakup Korsgaard
"The task was highly time-consuming, requiring a significant number of individuals to invest numerous hours in manual labor," explained Larocca, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at Arizona State University School of Ocean Futures. "The transformation is remarkable, underscoring the rapid rate at which the Arctic is experiencing warming and change."
Over the course of the last few decades, scientific research conducted in 2022 has revealed that the Arctic has experienced a warming trend that is four times faster than the global average. This accelerated warming has led to significant consequences. In an unprecedented event recorded in the summer of 2021, rain fell at the summit of Greenland, located approximately two miles above sea level. Furthermore, recent findings by scientists have highlighted the alarming vulnerability of the enormous glaciers in northern Greenland, which were previously believed to be relatively stable. These findings indicate that these glaciers now have the potential to contribute to a "dramatic" increase in global sea levels.
The Danish Agency for Datasupply and Infrastructure
Hans Henrik Tholstrup/University of Copenhagen
The Danish Agency for Datasupply and Infrastructure/Hans Henrik Tholstrup/University of Copenhagen
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Niels Jakup Korsgaard
The fact that the Danish pilots who captured the original photos were oblivious to their significant contribution to climate science almost 100 years later astonished Larocca.
"It is intriguing that many of these photographs were captured during military operations," she commented. "Thus, they bear connections to numerous significant moments in both international and US history. However, what adds a unique touch is the fact that, even after a century has passed, we are employing these images to conduct scientific research and document the extent of glacial transformations over time."
The Danish Agency for Datasupply and Infrastructure
Hans Henrik Tholstrup/University of Copenhagen
The Danish Agency for Datasupply and Infrastructure/Hans Henrik Tholstrup/University of Copenhagen
Larocca expressed her optimism that this visually-oriented study will raise awareness about the rapidly deteriorating territory and the imminent danger it presents to coastlines worldwide due to rising sea levels.
According to Larocca, the paper strongly emphasizes the importance of our decisions in the coming decades and the extent to which we decrease our emissions. She highlighted that even small increases in temperature will have profound implications for these glaciers. Taking prompt and decisive measures to curb global temperature rise will play a crucial role in mitigating their future decline and the associated rise in sea levels.
