What is the general future outlook for the Greenland Ice Sheet?
It’s difficult to make exact predictions. What we do know at this point is that according to some estimates the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is currently contributing about 0.5 mm a year to sea levels, which is about 15-20% of total current sea level rise. Current estimates of ice mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet are between 150-300 gigatons per year. To put this in perspective, this rate of loss is at least twice or even three times as much as it was at the beginning of the 1990s, which means mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet has really been increasing in the past 15 years or so. A big part of this loss is coming from the outlet glaciers, which are thinning and calving into the ocean at a faster rate. Something we still don’t know is what will happen when the outlet glaciers retreat further inland – whether they will eventually reach a stable position that slows down mass loss (the ice sheet is more sensitive where the bedrock is below sea level; it can reach a more sta
