From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Greenland’s ice cap surface mass balance grew by more than 400 Gt in the last 12 months, about 50 Gt more than average. This was largely due to heavy snowfall in early summer, coupled with the summer melt starting late.

As usual, here is a reminder from DMI about what this all means:

When calving and all other losses are taken into account, the ice cap is losing about 200 Gt a year, slightly less than in the first decade of this century, and at a similar rate to the 1930s.

In short, melting of the ice cap began around 1900, with a temporary halt during the much colder decades of the 190s, 70s and 80s when the AMO turned negative. There is no real sign of acceleration.

Given this year’s SMB, the overall Mass Balance loss this year will probably be similar to last year’s around 140 Gt.

A gigatonne is a billion tonnes. Greenland’s ice sheet is estimated to weigh about 3 million Gt, so it would take about 21000 years to melt away at current rates!