The Greenland Ice Sheet is Turning Black

The surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet is turning black

What's the absolute worse thing that could happen to the Greenland Ice Sheet?   It's already under stress from warming oceans and a warming climate. Glaciologists report that the Greenland ice sheet is starting to move more rapidly and more and more ice is being dumped into the ocean.  High on the surface of the glacier where just 30 years ago snow melt was only rarely observed, today huge rivers form in the summer and flow over the surface of the glacier before dropping into huge moulins that send the meltwater straight to the base of the glacier.

What else could go wrong?

Well, the surface of the Greenland ice sheet could turn black.  And that's exactly what it is doing.

What's going on?   Well, some dust snd black soot is carried on to the glacier each year, transported thousands of kilometers by arctic winds.  Unusually large forest fires in Canada and alaska send unusually large amounts of soot to Greeland.  But much of the soot and dust is a residual lag left behind as the surface of the glacier starts to melt. More melt means ever increasing amounts of residual dust and silt

The albedo (reflectivity) of snow reflects about 90% of solar energy.  Black soot and dust ABSORB as much as 90% of solar radiation 

The more the Greeland ice sheet melts the darker it will become.  The darker the Greenland ice sheet becomes, the more solar energy it will absorb.  The more solar energy it sbsorbs, the more it will melt