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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Greenland Meltwater Can Drain Faster Than Niagara Falls


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Meltwater on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet flows into a overflow channel leading to a moulin—a chute through which water enters a glacier from the surface—in an undated photo.

Giant lakes of meltwater on top of the ice sheet can suddenly drain at a rate faster than the flow of Niagara Falls, a new study found.

The contribution of Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet to sea-level rise is one of the biggest unknowns as climate change progresses, experts say.

Photograph © Science