New research indicates Greenland is losing area and drifting slowly to northwestward.

A new study recently published in the "Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth" of the United States shows that affected by factors such as global warming, Greenland is not only losing area but also gradually drifting towards the northwest.

This aerial view of the ice cap was captured near Sondre Stromfjord in Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, on March 21.  

Photo by Zhao Dingzhe, Xinhua News Agency

Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark and other institutions utilize data from 58 GNSS monitoring stations near Greenland to study changes in the island's overall position, bedrock elevation, and surface area. Research indicates that Greenland is increasingly subject to distortion, stress, and tension caused by tectonic plate movements and bedrock deformation. This bedrock deformation is driven by factors such as the melting of its massive ice sheet and the reduction of underground pressure.

Research also indicates that over the past 20 years, the entire island of Greenland has drifted northwestward at a rate of approximately 2 centimeters per year. These complex movements are causing horizontal expansion and contraction across Greenland, which leading the changes in Greenland's surface area, with some regions being stretched while others are being "squeezed together". Overall, Greenland is shrinking.

The Greenland ice sheet is one of the world's most abundant freshwater resources, the water storage volume is equivalent to a global sea level rise of 7.4 meters. According to calculations by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, for every 1-centimeter rise in sea level, approximately 6 million people worldwide face the risk of coastal flooding. Researchers indicate that accelerated global warming in recent years has caused significant melting of the Greenland ice sheet. This change not only impacts Greenland itself but also threatens humanity and the global natural environment.

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(Reprinted from People's Daily Online  November 5, 2025 08:41)