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Ice cap shrinking at higher rate Research shows glacier area near Pangnirtung is melting faster than any other time in past 4,000 years
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 22, 2013
Panniqtuuq/Pangnirtung
The Penny Ice Cap, a remnant of the last ice age located on north Baffin Island, is melting at a faster pace than at any other time in the last 3,000 years, according to a Geological Survey of Canada research team member.
Matthew Nauyuk, left, Nicole Schaffer and Sasha Chichagov were involved in an expedition to the Penny Ice Cap within the Auyuittuq National Park near Pangnirtung in April. - photo courtesy of Sasha Chichagov |
Nicole Schaffer, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa, has been making trips to the Auyuittuq National Park near Pangnirtung since 2011 to study the historical trends and future impacts of glacier volume changes.
She said the goal of the work she is undertaking with the Geological Survey of Canada is to understand how the ice cap is responding to a warming climate and how much ice will melt by the year 2100.
"So far, we've noticed the amount of ice melt has been increasing over the past few decades," she said. "For example, we did an analysis of the ice cores on the glacier to see the amount of snow that has melted on the surface and refrozen as ice. What we're seeing today is there is more melt of the refrozen ice than there was in the past."
Schaffer said the same is true for glaciers and ice caps on Ellesmere Island, where the melt is greater now than it has been in the past 4,000 years.
Eric Joamie, a Pangnirtung resident since 1970, has also seen the progressive melt of the Penny Ice Cap in recent decades. He used to fly into the park while interpreting for Parks Canada.
"The cap used to extend all the way down the mountain," he said. "The ice wouldn't melt throughout the summer, but now it looks like the ground we walk on today.
"Even flying between here and Qikiqtarjuaq is different today as it is all melting."
Schaffer said she's noticed significant differences since her first visit. She has made the trip to the Penny Ice Cap five times since 2011.
"When I first went up and got to the highest elevation, the surface was still increasing in height and there was an accumulation of snow," she said. "This year, it seems like the surface was stable and the height stopped increasing. It tells me there is definitely more melt at the surface than when I first starting going there. "
The Penny Ice Cap and other glaciers have been thinning in recent decades. A NASA study in 2004 revealed the lower elevations of the ice cap had thinned by as much as one metre per year between 1995 and 2000, according to the NASA website.
"However, scientists are uncertain how much of the retreat is because of recent climate change and how much of it is due to declines that have been going on since the end of a climate period called the Little Ice Age," Rebecca Lindsey of NASA's Earth Observatory writes on its website.
Using a combination of ground techniques and interpretation of satellite imagery, Schaffer is collecting information on ice thickness and its movements. Working alongside project manager Sasha Chichagov, she plans on going back a few more times to continue measuring the increased melt, which has a direct impact on sea levels.
"Melt water from Penny Ice Cap has also contributed to flooding in Akshayuk Pass (near Pangnirtung), which is a popular hiking route," Schaffer said. "In both 2008 and 2011, more than 20 hikers had to be moved to a different location as they were unable to cross rivers fed by glacial melt water."
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