Global Consequences
Water from Greenland’s ice sheet raises sea level approximately 0.3 mm each year, and this amount is dramatically increasing. In 2015, for example, the sea level rose 0.7 mm. Before the end of the 21st century, Arctic temperatures may well have risen by more than 3 degrees Celsius, making the Greenland ice sheet unstable. If all of this ice melts, sea level will rise 7 metres.
Water from glacial ice has already changed the salinity of the ocean around Greenland, which could potentially cause a reduction of the Gulf Stream, the basis for north-western Europe’s relatively warm climate. The first signs of a weakening of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic have already been detected.