The Greenland ice sheet is melting so fast, that the giant kilometer long chunks of ice that are breaking off are actually causing earthquakes. People monitoring this situation say that the rate at which the ice is pouring water and ice into the ocean is much faster than the IPCC’s very conservative reports. It is becoming more and more apparent that the IPCC was hobbled in it’s (still dire) predictions by political considerations.

Some Greenland glaciers (like the one at Ilulissat) are now flowing three times faster into the sea than it was 10 years ago.

Robert Corell, chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, said in Ilulissat yesterday: “We have seen a massive acceleration of the speed with which these glaciers are moving into the sea. The ice is moving at 2 metres an hour on a front 5km [3 miles] long and 1,500 metres deep. That means that this one glacier puts enough fresh water into the sea in one year to provide drinking water for a city the size of London for a year.”

If Greenland where to melt completely it contains enough water to raise worldwide sea levels by over 21 feet. Scientists on the scene say that the estimates of sea level rise in the IPCC report were based on data two years old. The predicted rise this century was 20-60cm (about 8-24ins) , but with current levels of melting that estimate when viewed with facts on the ground would be at the upper end of the minimum. They think that it could be two metres (6 feet). Two feet, 6 feet, you know whats the difference. Well a 6 foot rise would be absolutely catastrophic for millions of coastal residents world wide.

If you fly over the Illulissat glacier you will see giant holes filled with swirling melt water. These holes are being carved out by the warmer darker melt water, and driving deep underground to the base of the glacier. It is creating a lake 500 metres deep which was causing the glacier “to float on land”. Like pouring a track of motor oil on the ground, this melt water is lubricating the glacier making it flow faster into the ocean.

The glacier is now moving at about 9.3 miles a year into the sea although in surges it moves even faster. Dr Corell measured one surge at 5km (a bit more than three miles) in 90 minutes. Stunningly fast for a big glacial ice mass. This is causing massive hunks of ice to break off and fall into the ocean. This ice has been fused to the bedrock for so many years, and is so heavy that when it breaks off and fall into the ocean, the bedrock actually springs back up as the weight is gone, causing an earthquake.

These quakes are small magnitude 1 to 3, but the fact that they are happening at all show that the glacier is quickly melting. Faster than most anticipated. The giant ice chunks that fall off release pressure on the ice behind it, allowing it to flow even faster. It is a vicious feedback cycle, much like the melting of the polar ice caps.

These events all point to one fact. We have to act, and quickly. It has been done before. In the 80’s and 90’s the world came together and supported the Montreal protocol, and quickly made changed in manufacturing, laws, and policies. It was rapid action supported by industry, politics, and the people at large. We must do it again. When you go to vote for the next president, or the next senator, or the next representative, make sure you make climate change one of the issues you look at when choosing. If we don’t act soon, well it might be too late.