NSIDC Cryosphere Seminar: Ethan Carr
April
17
Wed
2024
11:00 am - 12:00 pmMDT
Open to Public
Greenland Glacial Lake Outburst Floods: Identifying Drainage Events and Assessing Trends in Frequency, Seasonality, and Magnitude Throughout the Landsat Era with Ethan Carr
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has become the focus of global interest due to its implications for the rise of global sea levels due to the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Increasingly warm surface air temperatures, atmospheric rivers, and lower albedo are increasing surface meltwater runoff, which is a major contributor to global sea level rise. As this water vacates the surface of the GrIS, a significant amount makes its way to the more than 3,300 ice-marginal lakes (IMLs). Meltwater in these lakes can produce large drainage events known as Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), which are a phenomenon heavily researched in other glaciated regions. Despite the number of potential GLOF-producing IMLs in Greenland, very little is known about how these events are evolving due to climate change, as well as how these events are impacting global sea levels.
This research seeks to be one of the first large-scale analyses of GLOF events from the GrIS, focusing on identifying trends in frequency, seasonality, and magnitude for these events over the last 30 years. This research is largely unprecedented in Greenland and aims to progress the fields of climate research and glaciology while also providing data that can be used by a variety of other fields to assess not only how climate change has impacted trends in GLOF events but also how GLOF events are impacting systems such as the hydrology and ice-dynamics of the GrIS as well as marine ecosystems and the changing global climate.
Bio: Ethan Carr is a graduate student in the Geography Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He conducts research at NSIDC/CIRES and works under his advisor, Dr. Mark Serreze. His research interests include glaciology, climate change, and natural hazards. In addition to his research, he is passionate about communicating the importance of change through education and outreach, which he does as a Student Member of the Explorers Club and Science Alliance Member at Protect Our Winters.
