Nature Communications (Mar 2017)

A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps

  • B. Noël,
  • W. J van de Berg,
  • S. Lhermitte,
  • B. Wouters,
  • H. Machguth,
  • I. Howat,
  • M. Citterio,
  • G. Moholdt,
  • J. T. M. Lenaerts,
  • M. R. van den Broeke

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14730
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps (GICs) is a major contributor to contemporary sea-level rise. Here, the authors identify the year 1997 as a tipping point in GICs mass loss induced by a rapid deterioration of the refreezing capacity of inland snow, resulting in irreversible long-term mass loss.