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At the end of the last ice age, the Hardangerfjord was covered in miles of thick ice. At that time, one could search very far for the well-known apples of the region.
The glacier stretched from Hardangervidda in the east to Halsnøy in the west.
The ice age had lasted almost 100,000 years. But then it got warmer and the collapse began. And that at record speed.
According to the researchers, this is one of the fastest crises the world has seen.
And now it is feared that history will repeat itself.
The study is published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
PROVIDES KNOWLEDGE: 11,500 years ago, much of the Hardangerfjord was covered in ice. Now, the rapid melting that took place here may give scientists new insights into other glaciers in the world.
Photo: Alrik Velsvik / NRK
Looking to the future
The frozen landscape you had in western Norway is not that different from what you see off the coast of Greenland today.
And it was precisely this comparison that gave a group of researchers from Norway and Sweden a good idea.
– We realized that we have a brilliant example of the ice age here at home, which may give us some clues about the future in Greenland, says climate researcher Henning Åkesson, who led the work. He works at the University of Stockholm.
Research activity in Greenland has exploded in the last fifteen years. Here, the health status of the ice is now more or less monitored in real time.
But less is known about what will happen in the long term.
MELTS: Scientists have long been concerned about the health of the Greenland ice sheet, where many of the glaciers over the past 20 years have retreated many kilometers.
Photo: Kerim Nisancioglu
Melted in jerks and outbursts
Through computer simulations, the researchers got a good picture of the collapse at Hardanger. There, the glacier reacted strongly to the climatic changes that occurred at that time.
The ice retreated a total of 125 kilometers.
As the fjord warmed and the temperature in the air rose, the glacier was “eaten” both from below and from above at the same time, the research shows.
The Hardangerfjord glacier completely disappeared after 500 years, corresponding to a retreat of 250 meters per year.
– It melted in tugs and tugs. The underwater landscape determined how fast. Sometimes the decline was slower, only to melt several kilometers a year, Åkesson says.
COLLABORATION: Climate researcher Henning Åkesson has led the work, which is a collaboration between researchers from UiB, Bjerknessenteret, UNIS, and Stockholm University.
Photo: Kerim Nisancioglu
– An advert
He believes the history of the glacier at Hardanger is a warning of what could happen to the Greenland ice sheet.
When this glacier melted just over 10,000 years ago, the temperature had risen by a few degrees. According to the climate researcher, today we are also heading towards a similar situation.
– If, on the other hand, we can rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the world, many glaciers could do so.
The melting of ice in Greenland is of great importance to both the coastal landscape, wildlife and the local people of the island.
In the long term, the entire great ice sheet is in danger of melting, the researchers believe.
In the worst case, if all the ice melts, the global sea level will rise seven meters. This is not expected until just over 1000 years.
