Nature and I – Greenland Ice Melting

By. Sangwook Alex Ahn

One of the most alarming news I read in the newspaper is the “unprecedented” melting of ice sheets covering Greenland. In January, I read that the ice sheet covering Greenland is melting rapidly at its base and is injecting far more water and ice into the ocean than previously understood, which may have serious ramifications for global sea level rise.

Huge quantities of meltwater fell from the surface, and as the meltwater falls, its gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, which warms the water as it pools at the base of the ice sheet. In that process, the study found that the Greenland ice sheet produces more energy than the world's 10 largest hydroelectric dams combined. However, the heat generated by the falling water is not used to generate electricity. It is melting the ice.

Recently in July, I read an article that the amount of Greenland ice that melted in Greenland between July 15^th and 17^th alone was 6 billion tons of water per day. This is enough to cover the entire state of West Virginia with a foot of water.

Each summer, scientists worry that they will see a repeat of the record melting that occurred in 2019 when 532 billion tons of ice flowed out into the sea. The global sea level rose permanently by 1.5mm as a result.

I am concerned as this is an actual example of a climate crisis. Nature is threatened when we do not take care of it. We have the responsibility to sustain and preserve the environment so that it will not be harmful to our lives.