Glaciers in Svalbard shrink by over 300 square miles in less than 40 years

Another, yet another, cry of alarm comes from the Svalbard islands (Norway): the glaciers of this splendid area of ​​the Arctic have shrunk to the edges of over 800 square kilometers in less than 40 years (between 1985 and 2023) . The climate crisis advances, unfortunately "undisturbed"

In less than 40 years, glaciers in Norway’s Svalbard Islands have shrunk by more than 300 square miles. A new study, from the University of Bristol, charts the remorseless march of the climate crisis.

The sorry state of the Arctic is barely news anymore, but new research says this region could see its first completely ice-free day within a decade, its first full month of sea ice-free conditions by mid-century.

This new study, though, is the first to reveal the shocking extent of glacier reduction in the past 40 years in this global warming hot spot-a retreat that is the most significant ever observed.

“Calving is a poorly modeled and understood process, yet it plays a crucial role in a glacier’s health,” said co-author Jonathan Bamber. “Our study provides critical insight into what controls calving and how it responds to climatic forces in an area at the forefront of global warming.”

Results showed that 91% of Arctic glaciers in Svalbard had retreated significantly-they lost over 300 square miles of area since measurements taken in 1985.

It also pointed out that more than half of these glaciers, or 62% of them, go through a seasonal cycle of calving. Large chunks break off the glacier due to much higher ocean and air temperatures.

“The areal extent of glacier retreats during the past several decades is surprising, nearly the entirety of the Svalbard system,” said Tian Li, lead author of the study. “That suggests the vulnerability of glaciers to climate change, especially in Svalbard, which is one of the places in the world with the fastest rates of warming-seven times the global average.”

The archipelago’s low-altitude ice fields and geographical position in the high North Atlantic make the area very sensitive to climate change, serving as one of the essential points for global warming studies.

The new study was done by applying artificial intelligence to identify fast glacier patterns over wide areas. An AI model studied millions of satellite images showing the end positions of glaciers throughout the Svalbard region.

The results provided an unprecedented level of detail on the scale and nature of glacier loss in this region. The largest peak in glacier retreats was detected in 2016, with calving rates double the average between 2010 and 2015, in response to extreme warming events.

“With the increased frequency of atmospheric blocking, combined with continued regional warming, future glacier retreats are very likely to accelerate, leading to more pronounced glacier mass loss. This, in turn, would also modify ocean circulation and marine biodiversity in the Arctic.”

On World Snow Day observed today, January 19st, when snow has decreased by a worrying 50% in the Alps compared to the last 100 years, this research is added to the often-ignored pleas of scientists.

The findings have been published in Nature Communications.

Source: University of Bristol / Nature Communications