Adrienne White and Luke Copland

Journal of Glaciology

Published date June 27, 2018

Area change of glaciers across Northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, between ~1999 and ~2015

  • Uses a variety of optical satellite scenes to quantify the change in the areal extent of 1773 glaciers across Northern Ellesmere Island between ~1999 and ~2015
  • Results show that:
    • Regional ice coverage decreased by 1705.3 km2 over the ~16-year period, a loss of ~5.9%
    • Ice shelves had the greatest losses relative to their size, of ~42.4%
    • Land-terminating glaciers lost 4.9% of their 1999 area, including the complete loss of three small ice caps (<1.5 km2)
  • Highlights the high sensitivity of the ice cover of Northern Ellesmere Island to recent climate warming and the continued losses that are likely to occur in the future