Deep Water Changes Threaten Greenland Glaciers

Scientists attached special sensors to narwhals to track ocean conditions. These animals swim through East Greenland's coastal waters. Researchers picked narwhals because they naturally dive deep and travel widely across the region. The devices recorded temperature, saltiness, and depth over many years. This data helps explain how the Arctic Ocean is changing.

From 1960 until 2021, water temperatures rose steadily. Above five hundred meters, the rise averaged zero point zero four seven degrees Celsius each year. Atlantic Intermediate Water has been moving into deeper parts of the region. In the Blosseville Basin, this water type dominates below two hundred fifty meters. The warm water acts like a hidden heater for the ice faces, causing them to melt from underneath.

Atlantification now reaches far inland, past three hundred kilometers from the coast. Glaciers near Scoresby Sound and Kangerlussuaq feel warmer and saltier water. More icebergs break off during summer when temperatures and salinity climb below two hundred meters. Warm Atlantic water flows beneath glaciers and speeds up their melting. This process causes faster loss of glacier mass. Such trends mean less stable ice shelves and potential sea level rise concerns for future generations.

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