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The ice sheet in Iceland is melting early this year, and as well as there being concerns about the amount, the timing is a worry. It may be a natural occurrence, but the idea that it is another man made problem is not being ruled out. 1.7 million sq. Km shows signs of melting according to the Danish Meteorological Institute ad while this is not entirely new, the speed at which it happened is. Often this will happen around May but not as early as this year, and scientist Peter Langen, who is with the meteorological society, explained that figures had to be checked, and also they needed to accept that this may happen again in the future.
One explanation has been that it was due to the warm air that was trapped above Greenland, and this turned into rain around the coast. Al Jazeera reported that this could be due to natural causes, but also had to concede that it was likely that there was a man-made element, and things have deteriorated due to climate change.
Meltwater refreezing releases heat into the snow at depth, reducing the amount of heating needed for the melt to start and forming ice layers that can help melt water run off the ice sheet earlier with climate warming.
It is not unknown for this to happen as back in 2012, and it is known that the water will eventually turn back to ice once winter comes. That said, there will be an element of damage caused by the ice according to a representative of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Jason Box.
In 100 years 9 trillion metric tons of ice has been lost, and the resultant sea level rise leaves coastal areas vulnerable.
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