It rained in Greenland for the first time in 70 years: why is this a so troubling fact

Something happened in the middle of this month abnormal climatic standards green land, one of the coldest places in the world: It rained instead of snowing.

It might not sound like much, but it hasn’t rained in the area since then 1950 So scientists are really interested in the event. Even more alarming is the fact that rain fell even on the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet, which has not experienced rain in recorded history.

This is another weather alert, so the expression “climate crisis“As exaggerated as it may seem to some. Happens whatAs human activity continues to warm the world, the ice sheets are melting and what should be snow falling as rain. But why exactly did Greenland see this record rainfall?

In mid-August 2021, scientists at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station, located at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet, suddenly noticed the summit area surrounded by rain, according to the National Science Center. Snow and ice data. the rain, That fell for a few hours, was the first documented rain in the area in history.

The site that reaches approx 3.2 kilometers (about two miles), not only was he exposed to rain, but the air reached temperatures above freezing for about nine hours, This is only the third time in the past decade that the station has measured temperatures above freezing.

While it is very clear that global warming is a major factor here, What specifically caused this place to get so hot that it fell rain instead of snow for the first time?

According to the National Snow and Snow Data Center, the “melt event” that occurred from August 14-16, 2021 was caused by high air pressure Southeast Greenland, along with a strong low pressure center on Baffin Island, located west of Greenland. The two forces blasted hot, moist air into Greenland, raising temperatures and causing snow to turn into rain.

The data center added that it was there on August 14 and 15 Heavy rainfall and surface melt around the southeast coast of Greenland, which soon extended to the summit area.

“What’s happening isn’t just a warm decade or two in a roving weather pattern.”, said to CNN Scientist Ted Schampos of the National Snow and Snow Data Center. ‘This is unprecedented’He added, he mentioned it This month’s events are scientific evidence of global warming in Greenland.

Thomas Mott, a climate scientist at the University of Georgia, agrees. like he said New York timesThe increasing rate of warming and melting in the Arctic “Real evidence of climate change in Greenland”.

Rising temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels and precipitation are more than just a sign of global warming in Greenland. In the latest climate report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, scientists looked at evidence of climate change in every region on Earth. To prevent these changes from becoming irreversible, the commitments made by the world’s major governments to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions are becoming very relevant, and commitments according to these experts must be even more radical, consistent and radical.

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