Equilibrium Line Greenland
Scientists like Prof Alun Hubbard come to S10 camp on the Greenland Icesheet to study ice movement. They are trying to establish just how fast the ice sheet is melting. Twenty years ago, S10 Camp was chosen to be located in a safe zone just above the point the scientists call the equilibrium line. Here, the amount of snowfall and melt each year was equal, making it very stable. But in the last decade, the equilibrium line has started to change and move.
What is the importance of an equilibrium line?
The ice sheet’s losing more than it’s gaining. The equilibrium line is advancing up the ice cap signalling that the ice sheet is becomingmore unstable. It is out of balance, losing greater mass than it gains each year. But how fast and how much is what scientists like Alun Hubbard are trying to identify.
At S10 Camp scientists are working to measure the impact the warming climate system is having on the Greenland ice sheet and how fast it’s accelerating the ice sheet melt.
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