Glacial rebound is complex. There is an elastic response that is nearly instantaneous. We (well, by we I mean NASA using measurements from the GRACE satellites) see that today as the Arctic ice melts from on top of Greenland. And for North America, there’s the slower settling of the U.S., pushing up Canada and Greenland, like a seesaw from the melting of the Glaciers 6000 years ago. That is like pushing one end of a lady finger into a pool of mascarpone cheese, once you stop pushing on it, the finger will level out. (Unless of course you are impatient and eat the Tiramisu before the finger can right) How much each effect is contributing to SLR around Greenland today is an area of study.
The lady finger seesaw has been righting for 6000 years before I was born and probably will for millennia after I am gone. But the elastic response to the melting of the ice sheets over Greenland is occurring now and will drive up SLR in my lifetime. How much? That is worth studying.
Glacial rebound is complex. There is an elastic response that is nearly instantaneous. We (well, by we I mean NASA using measurements from the GRACE satellites) see that today as the Arctic ice melts from on top of Greenland. And for North America, there’s the slower settling of the U.S., pushing up Canada and Greenland, like a seesaw from the melting of the Glaciers 6000 years ago. That is like pushing one end of a lady finger into a pool of mascarpone cheese, once you stop pushing on it, the finger will level out. (Unless of course you are impatient and eat the Tiramisu before the finger can right) How much each effect is contributing to SLR around Greenland today is an area of study.
The lady finger seesaw has been righting for 6000 years before I was born and probably will for millennia after I am gone. But the elastic response to the melting of the ice sheets over Greenland is occurring now and will drive up SLR in my lifetime. How much? That is worth studying.