This study improves our quantitative understanding of influx of freshwater by runoff and iceberg calving to the North Atlantic Ocean from East Greenland both in present and future time (2071-2100).

East Greenland freshwater input to the North Atlantic Ocean is 438 km3 per year for present, dominated by contributions of 257 km3 per year (equals 60%) from the eastern part of the Greenland Ice Sheet and 181 km3 per year (equals 40%) from the land strip area between the Ice Sheet and the Ocean.

The future (2071-2100) climate impact assessment based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A2 and B2 scenarios indicates an increase of global mean surface air temperature of 2.5-3.5 degrees Celsius towards the end of the century. For East and North East Greenland the values are 2.7 and 5.4 degrees Celsius towards the end of the century, respectively.

For the future period 2071-2100, the mean annual freshwater input to the North Atlantic Ocean is modeled to be 650 km3 per year: 456 km3 per year (equals 70%) from the Greenland Ice Sheet and 194 km3 per year (equals 30%) from the land strip area.

The amount of total East Greenland freshwater input of 650 km3 per year is an increase of approximately 50% from today's values of 438 km3 per year, and more than expected.

The future freshwater runoff contribution alone from the Greenland Ice Sheet is more than double from today's values. The total present Greenland Ice Sheet freshwater flux is 257 km3 per year, based on 141 km3 per year from runoff and 116 km3 per year from iceberg calving. For the future period the Greenland Ice Sheet runoff is estimated to be 340 km3 per year, more that a double from today's values of 141 km3 per year.

The Greenland Ice Sheet mass balance is changing as a response to the altered climatic state - faster that expected. The changes affect freshwater runoff input to the North Atlantic Ocean, and play an important role in determining the global sea level rise and global ocean thermohaline circulation. The present runoff input of 438 km3 per year equals a global sea level contribution of 1.1 mm per year, and the future input of 650 km3 per year equals 1.6 mm per year.

The research team works with state-of-the art modelling systems which are compared with satellite images and observations from Greenland.

This research was carried out by an American-Danish research team leaded by the Dane Dr. Sebastian H. Mernild (Ph.D.), from the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

These research results are recently published in the peer-reviewed international journal Hydrological Processes. Hydrological Processes is devoted to the publication of original scientific papers in hydrology. The objective of these communications is to improve our understanding of hydrological processes. The journal is published by Wiley-Blackwell can be accessed online at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/hp.

For further information: Dr. Sebastian H. Mernild International Arctic Research Center University of Alaska Fairbanks E-mail fxsm@uaf.edu