Pardon?

  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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    10 months ago

    I put this in the cross post, bit figure it belongs here, too:

    While ridiculous, there’s interesting context here.

    • Greenland has little to no economy
    • The ice is mined from ice that has already broken away from the glacier, thus not reducing any more than nature has already
    • Cargo ships bringing frozen food used to leave empty, now that same fuel is used to transport ice back instead of going to waste
    • The founder has always dreamed of a sustainable economy for Greenland
    • He is conflicted about how his work to do this in a sustainable way is being taken

    Lots of gray here.

    • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      assuming that big pieces near the glacier are also being picked up, wouldn’t they still help keep the temperature of the seas near the glaciers down therefore helping reduce melting?

      • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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        10 months ago

        My understanding is it’s actually the opposite, due to impacts to AMOC:

        https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29226-8

        In today’s warming climate, the persistent North Atlantic cooling anomaly off the southeast coast of Greenland is thought to be caused by the accelerating input of meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and considered an indicator of a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Modelling studies suggest that increased freshwater input from Greenland has the potential to slow down AMOC in the future, thus substantially weakening heat transport to the North Atlantic and potentially driving positive ice sheet-ocean feedbacks

        Basically, the melt reduces surface temps, and slows the AMOC (bad):

        https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/amoc.html

        If the AMOC does continue to slow down, however, it could have far-reaching climate impacts. For example, if the planet continues to warm, freshwater from melting ice at the poles would shift the rain belt in South Africa, causing droughts for millions of people. It would also cause sea level rise across the U.S. East Coast.

        EDIT: I am no expert here, for context.