Scientists Seeking to Quantify Methane Drill To The Bottom Of A Glacier On The Greenland Ice Sheet

ISUNNGUATA SERMIA, GREENLAND - JULY 09: In this aerial view scientists and engineers monitor a hot water drill on the Isunnguata Sermia glacier of the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 09, 2024 in western Greenland. The international scientific team led by Cryoeco, The Cryosphere Ecology Group at Charles University in Prague, is drilling through 1,200 meters of ice in order to extract sediment samples from beneath the glacier. By analyzing the sediment the scientists hope to quantify the amount of methane being produced there by microbes. Glaciers in Greenland naturally release methane, a potent greenhouse gas, though climate change is contributing to a rise in methane output. Increasing flows of meltwater on the surface of the glaciers make their way to the glacial flows at the glacier bottom, where the water bonds methane and eventually frees it into the atmosphere when the water exits. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the Greenland Ice Sheet has been losing mass continuously since 1996, with an accumulated loss since 1986 approaching 6,000 metric gigatons, or six trillion tons. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)