Fact check: Greenland is still losing ice; no reversal in trend
The claim: Greenland's ice loss trend slowed significantly over the last decade, ice mass now growing
Despite widespread reports that the Greenland ice sheet is rapidly losing ice, some social media users are claiming the opposite is true.
“Greenland ice melt slowed significantly during the past decade,” reads a Nov. 18 Facebook post. “The trend has now swung to one of growth.”
The post, which accumulated several hundred interactions in a month, concluded, “Media tizzies of ‘mass ice loss’ are wildly unfounded.”
The post links an article that has been shared on Facebook and Twitter.
However, the claim is wrong.
Satellite observations confirm Greenland continues to lose ice. There has been no reversal in the trend, according to experts.
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USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Greenland losing hundreds of billions of metric tons of ice each year
The social media users claim data from Danish Meteorological Institute shows the slowing and reversal of Greenland ice loss.
However, this is wrong, Martin Stendel, a climate scientist at the Danish institute, told USA TODAY in an email.
"There has been no reversal whatsoever," he said. "Unfortunately, it happens all the time that people misinterpret our analyses."
The institute's Greenland ice sheet mass change data shows substantial losses around the margins of the ice sheet since 2002. It also shows small increases in mass at high elevation areas near the center of the ice sheet due to increased precipitation in those areas.
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However, even with these gains, the Greenland ice sheet has lost trillions of metric tons of ice, according to Stendel.
"Since 2002, the Greenland ice sheet has lost over 5 trillion metric tons of ice," Felix Landerer, a NASA sea and ice research scientist, told USA TODAY in an email. "There are no signs of this trend slowing down or ... reversing."
Blog references incorrect data set to support claims
Claims of a Greenland ice loss "reversal" appear to be based on the Nov. 17 article linked in many of the social media posts. The write-up points to "surface mass balance" data on the Greenland ice sheet from the Danish Meteorological Institute to support its claim of ice loss reversal and new growth.
However, surface mass balance is not a measure of overall ice loss or gain on the Greenland ice sheet. NASA notes, "It does not include ice lost in the lower margins due to calving and thinning from contact with warm ocean waters."
The surface mass balance is only a small part of the overall ice loss equation on the Greenland ice sheet.
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"The annual surface mass balance can fluctuate year to year depending on the weather over Greenland," Michael Wood, a NASA sea and ice postdoctoral fellow, told USA TODAY in an email. "The ice lost from calving glaciers is more constant and outpaces gains from surface mass balance, leading to consistent overall losses from the ice sheet."
USA TODAY previously debunked a related claim that Earth’s polar regions had record high ice levels in 2021. That claim was also based on a misinterpretation of data from the Danish institute.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Greenland’s ice loss trend has slowed significantly over the last decade and that the ice sheet is now gaining ice. Greenland has steadily lost ice for decades, according to researchers.
Our fact-check sources:
USA TODAY, Nov. 3, Greenland's ice sheet is melting so fast, it's raising sea levels and creating global flood risk
The New York Times, Aug. 20, 2020, Loss of Greenland Ice Sheet Reached a Record Last Year
The Washington Post, Nov. 23, Greenland ice sheet experiences record loss to calving of glaciers and ocean melt over the past year
NASA, Nov. 5, Greenland Ice Mass Loss 2002-2021
Polar Portal, accessed Dec. 22, Greenland Surface Conditions
NASA, accessed Dec. 22, Ice sheets
E&E News, Jan. 25, Earth has lost 28 trillion tons of ice since the mid-1990s
USA TODAY, Dec. 21, Fact check: False claim that Arctic, Antarctic ice reached record highs
NASA, accessed Dec. 22, What’s the difference between glacier or ice sheet surface mass balance and total mass balance?
Michael Wood, Dec. 22-24, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Felix Landerer, Dec. 22-23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Martin Stendel, Dec. 22-23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Josh Willis, Dec. 21, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Science, Apr. 30, 2020, Pervasive ice sheet mass loss reflects competing ocean and atmosphere processes
Polar Portal, accessed Dec. 27, Mass changes
NASA, accessed Dec. 27, Ice sheets and glaciers
Danish Meteorological Institute, accessed Dec. 28, Website
Brice Noël, Dec. 29-30, Email exchange with USA TODAY
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Greenland ice sheets melting due to global climate change
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