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Global Climate · Regional to global

Greenland ice sheet

Mass loss measured directly from satellites — one of the clearest signals in the climate record.

How this page works

Six sections are filled in: the parts that are stable and factual. Four are yours — evidence, perspectives, evaluation and the current connection. Those four are where the marks are, and they are deliberately empty. A case study only counts once you have completed them.

↧ Download the Greenland ice sheet template Word · ready to fill in · the six given sections already completed
§ 01

The ten-part record

01 · Location Filled in for you

Greenland
72.0°N 42.0°W · scale: Regional to global

See this case in context on the case study map.

02 · Geographic context Filled in for you

The second largest ice sheet on Earth, holding enough water to raise global sea level by several metres. It has been losing mass at an accelerating rate, measurable by satellite gravimetry.

03 · Processes Filled in for you

What is changing here, and the mechanisms driving it.

  • Surface melt exceeding snowfall accumulation
  • Glacier acceleration and calving at the margins
  • Albedo feedback as bright ice darkens
  • Freshwater input to North Atlantic circulation
04 · Evidence You build this

Find these, and write the year beside every figure. A statistic without a date is not evidence.

  • Annual mass loss in gigatonnes, with the year
  • Sea level equivalent held in the ice sheet
  • Contribution to observed global sea level rise
  • How the rate has changed since the 1990s
Your figures go here
05 · Stakeholders Filled in for you

Who is affected, and separately, who holds the decision-making power.

  • Coastal populations worldwide facing sea level rise
  • Greenlandic communities and their government
  • Climate scientists and monitoring programmes
  • Mining and shipping interests as ice retreats

Named above as a starting list. For each one, add what they actually want, and note where two of them want incompatible things.

06 · Perspectives You build this

Find two sources that disagree about this case — not two summaries of the same view. Record who each is, what they claim, and what interest they have. A perspective without a holder is not a perspective.

Your notes go here
07 · Concepts Filled in for you

Which of the six apply here, and what each one reveals.

  • Process. Physical mechanism you can measure, not model output alone.
  • Scale. One island's ice determining coastlines worldwide.
  • Possibility. Some loss is now committed regardless of future emissions.
08 · Evaluation You build this

How significant is this? How effective was any response? What are the limitations of your evidence? What else could explain the pattern? Reach a judgement and defend it.

Your notes go here
09 · Current connection You build this

One dated development from the last twelve months. Does it strengthen, weaken or complicate the case as recorded above? Update this every time you revisit the case.

Your notes go here
10 · Exam use Filled in for you

Causes and physical consequences of warming, and the quality of cryosphere evidence.

Now go and build the other four

Reading this page is not the same as having a case study. Take the template, find the evidence, and fill in sections 4, 6, 8 and 9 in your own words.

↧ Download the template Or take the blank version for a case of your own
§ 02

Where to look

Start here. Prefer the organisation that produced the data over anyone summarising it.

Links checked 27 August 2026 · external links open in a new tab

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