Study keeps pace with Greenland glaciers

Herky-jerky motion suggests worst-case sea level rise unlikely

Time-lapse snapshots showing Greenland’s glaciers racing toward the sea in recent years have turned up some good news, and some bad news.

Glaciers like Greenland’s Jakobshavn Isbrae (shown) are expected to contribute less to rising sea level during this century than worst-case scenarios had envisioned. Ian Joughin, © Science/AAAS

As the island’s glaciers disintegrate over coming decades, they won’t raise the world’s oceans as much as the most pessimistic forecasts had shown possible, researchers report in the May 4 Science.