Study: Glaciers in Alaska’s icefield are melting at an "incredibly worrying" rate
Glaciers on a major Alaskan icefield are melting twice as fast as they did a decade ago, and researchers say the rate of ice loss is "incredibly worrying".
The research, led by scientists from Newcastle University in the UK and published on July 2nd in Nature Communications, identified how the volume of ice on the Juneau Icefield has declined dramatically since 2010, compared to previous decades.
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According to ABC News, the Juneau Icefield is located 2,000 meters North of Juneau and extends to the border with British Columbia, making it the fifth largest icefield in North America.
The researchers analyzed historical data to determine three periods during which the volume of ice had changed significantly.
According to the study, between 1770 and 1979, the volume loss of Juneau Icefield glaciers remained constant, namely 0.65 to 1.01 cubic kilometers per year. In the second period, from 1979 to 2010, the loss of glacier volume increased to 3.08 to 3.72 cubic kilometers per year.
According to the study, between 2010 and 2020, the volume loss of Juneau Icefield glaciers accelerated, to 5.91 cubic kilometers.
"It is incredibly worrying that our research has found a rapid acceleration, since the beginning of the 21st century, of the rate of glacier loss in Juneau Icefield", said on July 2nd Dr. Bethan Davies, study leader and lecturer at Newcastle University.
Davies explained why the region is prone to an accelerated melting of ice amid climate change: "Alaska’s icefields – which are predominantly flat, plateau icefields – are particularly vulnerable to accelerated melting as the climate warms up, as ice loss occurs across the entire surface, which means a much larger area is affected", Davies said.
The study found that since 1770, 108 of Juneau Icefield’s glaciers have completely disappeared, and mapping in 2019 showed that every glacier in the region has thinned.
"As the thinning of the Juneau plateau’s glaciers continues and the ice recedes to lower levels and warmer air, the feedback processes that this puts in motion are likely to prevent future glacier regeneration", said Davies, stating that this will potentially push the glaciers "beyond a tipping point into an irreversible recession".
