1920s Greenland ice melt documented

COLUMBIA, Ohio, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have discovered the melting of Greenland's glaciers that has alarmed the world's climate scientists also occurred during the 1920s.

Two Ohio State University scientists spent months studying old expedition logs and reports, and reviewing 70-year-old maps and photos before making their surprising discovery.

Professor Jason Box and undergraduate Adam Herrington, co-authors of the study, said their finding reinforces the belief that glaciers and other bodies of ice are exquisitely hyper-sensitive to climate change and bolsters the concern that rising temperatures will speed the demise of that island's ice fields, hastening sea level rise.

They said their research might help discount criticism that the melting of Greenland 's glaciers is merely an isolated, regional event.

Box said the fact that recent changes to Greenland's ice sheet mirror its behavior nearly 70 years ago is increasing researchers' confidence and alarm as to what the future holds.

Greenland 's ice sheet contains at least 10 percent of the world's freshwater and has been losing more than 24 cubic miles of ice annually during the last five years.

The research was reported in San Francisco during this week's annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.