Melting Greenland Glacier Could Cause Sea Level to Rise for Decades

Zachariæ Isstrøm is a giant glacier in the northeast of Greenland.  It is one of the three main glaciers that feeds into the roughly 373-mile-long Northeast Greenland Ice Stream that drains 12 percent of the island's interior ice sheet.  Right now, the glacier is melting at such a rapid rate that it could lead to a continuous sea level rise for decades to come.

In a new NASA-funded report published in the journal Science, researchers report that the large glacier entered this "phase of accelerated retreat" in fall 2012.  The rate of its ice velocity tripled.  Warming temperatures, hotter air and water temperatures are causing the glacier to detach from the stabilizing sill that anchors it to the island's coastline.

The glacier drains ice from an area of 35,440 square miles, which is around 5 percent of the ice sheet.  On its own, this glacier holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by more than 18 inches, according to a NASA press release.

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