Why does it matter that Greenland is melting?

Why does it matter that Greenland is melting?

Up next

Can technology help us fight flooding in cities?

With more and more people moving to cities, informal settlements are expected to grow. When floods hit these unplanned places, it can be disastrous, as we often don’t know much about them. Crucial questions often remain difficult to answer, like how many people live there, what a ...  Show more

Earthquakes and climate change

Earthquakes are caused by a sudden release of stress along faults in the earth's crust, not by climate change, but some new studies suggest that melting glaciers and permafrost may influence when, where and how often seismic activity occurs. In this episode, hosts Graihagh Jackso ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

Trouble in Greenland
Science In Action

Has the loss from Greenland’s vast ice sheet reached a tipping point? According to glaciologist Michalea King, the rate at which its ice flows into the sea stepped up about 15 years ago. The process of glacial retreat is outpacing the accumulation snow and ice in Greenland’s inte ...  Show more

Melting of Greenland ice sheet
Science In Action

Record-breaking global temperatures are accelerating Greenland ice melt at an alarming rate. Professor of glaciology Alun Hubbard has witnessed the melt first hand. He tells us how the ice sheet is being destabilised and what this could mean on a human level. Also, how safe are J ...  Show more

How Glaciers Move
Short Wave

There's always a moment of intense isolation when Jessica Mejía gets dropped off on the Greenland ice sheet for a multi-week research stint. "You know you're very much alone," said Jessica, a postdoctoral researcher in glaciology at the University of Buffalo. Glaciers such as tho ...  Show more

On Thin Ice: Supercharged Phytoplankton (Part 1)
Science Quickly

All aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer, a research vessel making its way through the waters of West Antarctica. Journalist Sofia Moutinho is joining a team of chemists trying to find out how glacial melting is changing ocean chemistry—and what those changes might mean for the global ...  Show more