Kangerdlussuaq Glacier in Greenland

"Dramatic discovery" confirms scientists' climate change predictions and holds tremendous significance in terms of sea level rise

Independent scientists on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise yesterday made a dramatic discovery about the Greenland glacier Kangerdlugssuaq. The US scientists preliminary findings show the speed of the glacier has increased beyond all expectations and it is now travelling at three times the speed it was in 1988 making it one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world. Any changes in the speed of these glaciers has tremendous significance in terms of global sea level rise. The news from Greenland confirms predictions of how climate change would impact on Greenland's glaciers.

Outlet glaciers like Kangerdlugssuaq transport ice from the heart of the Greenland Ice Sheet to the ocean and discharge icebergs which contribute to sea level rise. Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier alone transports or "drains" four percent of the ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet, and so any changes in the speed with which they move holds tremendous significance in terms of sea level rise.

Preliminary findings indicate Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier on Greenland's east coast could be one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world with a speed of almost 14 kilometres per year. The measurements were made this week using high precision GPS survey methods. The results were compared with measurements made with satellite imagery that revealed the glacier's speed was five kilometers per year in 1996. In addition, Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier unexpectedly receded approximately five kilometres since 2001 after maintaining a stable position for the past 40 years.

"This is a dramatic discovery," said Dr. Gordon Hamilton, who undertook the measurements on Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier on Greenland's east coast with University of Maine PhD student Leigh Stearns. "There is concern that the acceleration of this and similar glaciers and the associated discharge of ice is not described in current ice sheet models of the effects of climate change. These new results suggest that the loss of ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet, unless balanced by an equivalent increase in snowfall, could be larger and faster than previously estimated," said Dr. Hamilton.

"As the warming trend migrates north, glaciers at higher latitudes in Greenland might also respond in the same way as Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier. In turn, this could have serious implications for the rate of sea level rise," said Dr. Hamilton.

The Greenland Ice Sheet could melt down if regional warming exceeds about three degrees Celsius. If this were to occur, sea levels would rise approximately seven metres over a few thousand years. However, a half a metre to one metre rise in sea levels in the next century would have significant impacts on society. More than 70 percent of the world's population lives on coastal plains, and 11 of the world's 15 largest cities are on the coast or estuaries.

"Greenland's shrinking glaciers are sending an urgent warning to the world that action is needed now to stop climate change," said Martina Krueger, Greenpeace Expedition Leader on board the Arctic Sunrise "How many more urgent warnings do Blair and Bush need before they take meaningful action on climate change?" said Krueger.

Yesterday's findings have come from the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise which is in Greenland this summer documenting the signs and impacts of climate change in this area of the Arctic. The independent scientists onboard are from the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, USA, and are conducting an independently-funded study into glacier variations as evidence of recent climate change.

For more information contact:
Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8255 or
On board the Arctic Sunrise
Dr. Gordon Hamilton and Greenpeace Expedition Leader Martina Krueger
Satellite phone: + 871 1302577, +871 324453810
Steve Sawyer, Greenpeace International climate campaigner (Amsterdam) +31-6-5350-4715

Photos and video available

The disappearing glaciers of Patagonia

Greenpeace today released new visual evidence of the impacts of climate change. Dramatic new photos of Patagonian glaciers taken by a research team on board the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise show the extent of glacier retreat this century, when compared to photos of the same glaciers taken from the same point in 1928.

Greenpeace campaigner Laura Yates, said: "Rising temperatures are causing glaciers to melt all over the world. In Patagonia, they are disappearing faster than anywhere else on Earth. There are many reasons for the speed of the retreat but climate change is the trigger for the process."

In recent years the melting of the glaciers in Patagonia has accelerated, which indicates human induced climate change. From 1995 through 2000 the rate of ice loss from the ice fields more than doubled, to an equivalent sea level rise of 0.1 mm (0.004 inches) per year. The sheer volume of melt water from glaciers is causing the sea levels to rise (1), increasing the risk of flooding in many of the world's coastal areas. It is also starting to cause problems for people who depend on the glaciers for their fresh water supply. This may cause enormous problems in the future given that a third of the world's population - 2 billion people - rely on rivers fed by Himalayan glaciers alone.

Greenpeace has been touring Patagonia and Chile for 4 weeks, investigating the extent to which the glaciers and ice-fields there are disappearing. The research team's findings confirm that a number of large glaciers, such as the San Quintin and Upsala glaciers, part of the Northern and Southern Patagonian ice-fields, have significantly thinned and have retreated several kilometres in recent years.

A recent study by the journal Nature (2) showed that climate change could drive a million of the world's species to extinction as soon as 2050. "Climate change is a global problem - not only do we risk losing the world's glaciers but we are already witnessing an increased frequency and severity of floods (3), droughts and storms, loss of coral reefs, rises in sea levels and a rapid spread of diseases such as malaria," added Yates.

Climate change is occurring because we use energy created by fossil fuels - oil, coal and gas. When these fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide (CO2), a so called 'greenhouse gas' that causes the Earth to warm.

"Climate change poses a greater threat to the world than terrorism. Its time for our leaders to show leadership. The world is looking to European governments to take on the US and start ensuring significant global reductions in fossil fuel emissions. At the moment we are failing in our responsibility for future generations", concluded Yates. (4)

Renewable energy technologies and industries are poised on the brink of a revolution all they need is political support. World leaders are being invited for the first time to attend an international renewables conference, to be held in Bonn (June 1 to 4, 2004 ).

Greenpeace calls upon all world leaders to attend to this conference and to adopt firm commitments to provide a minimum to 20 % of our power from clean sources by 2020.

Notes to Editors
For more information contact the Greenpeace Press Office on 020 7865 8255
For photos call Greenpeace pictures on 020 7865 8294
Click here for a background briefing or contact the Press Office.

1.Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise by Eric Rignot, Andrés Rivera and Gino Casassa, Science 2003 October 17; 302: 434-437. (in Reports)

2.Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, January 2004.

3.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)