Greenland waters losing salinity due to melting ice, may affect marine life: Scientists

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Scientists have meted out a warning saying that the Greenland coastal waters are gradually becoming saline due to the melting ice, thereby posing a threat to marine life.

The global ocean currents that keep Europe warm are also at risk, the study said.

This is the first time that scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark have unveiled the long-term impact of the melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

The observed increase in freshwater content will affect the conditions in all Greenland fjords, researchers pointed out.

This comes at a time when the discourse on climate change and global warming has taken over a larger domain in the last few years and its rapidly growing effects have raised questions on Earth's habitability in the future.

With the frigid Arctic region losing sea ice at a fast pace, scientists are concerned about its impact on the world.

Over the years, the dramatic meltdown of ice in the Arctic Ocean has received great attention and is easy to observe through satellite images.

Also, glaciers have been observed to melt and retreat and the researchers know that today’s meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet has more than doubled compared with the period 1983-2003.

How the increased influx of fresh water will affect the marine environment is, however, largely unknown.

Clear tale

Now, unique annual measurements made within the framework of the ‘Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring Program’ since 2003 in northeast Greenland tell a clear tale — fresh water from the ice sheet accumulates in the surface layers of the surrounding sea and flows into the Greenland fjords.

Measurements show that the surface water layers became up to 1.5 per mill less saline. This equivalent to an increase in freshwater content from about one metre in 2003 to almost four metres in 2015.

(With PTI inputs)