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\n Published on
\n 16\/10\/2025 – 8:00 GMT+2\n <\/p>\n
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As climate change hits the Arctic with accelerating speed, Greenland is \u201cshrinking\u201d in size. <\/p>\n
New research from DTU Space, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, says the Danish territory is being \u201ctwisted, compressed and stretched\u201d while also slowly drifting northwest.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon is occurring due to plate tectonics and movements in the bedrock, which is caused by the large ice sheets on top melting and \u201creducing pressure on the subsurface\u201d.<\/p>\n
Greenland \u2018shifting\u2019 northwest<\/p>\n
Researchers say these movements are making Greenland <\/a>expand and contract horizontally, meaning some regions are being \u201cstretched out\u201d and getting larger, while other parts are being \u201cpulled together\u201d.<\/p>\n DTU Space researcher and lead author Danjal Longfors Berg says overall this means Greenland is getting smaller – but this could change in the future with the \u201caccelerating melt <\/a>we\u2019re seeing now\u201d.<\/p>\n The study, which produced measurements based on 58 GNSS stations around Greenland, also found that the entire island has moved northwest over the past two decades by about 2 centimetres each year.<\/p>\n Is climate change to blame?<\/p>\n The researchers say pressure is easing due to large amounts of ice that have melted in Greenland over recent years as a result of climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Greenland Ice Sheet (which formed around three million years ago) lost 55 + 35 Gigatons of mass.<\/p>\n While this was the lowest annual ice loss since 2013, it marks the 28th year in a row where Greenland has lost more ice than it produces and poses a serious threat to human and natural environments across the globe.<\/p>\n The Greenland Ice Sheet is one of the planet\u2019s biggest freshwater resources, and contains the equivalent of 7.4 metres of global sea rise.<\/p>\n