Rapid Change in the Greenland Ice Sheet and Implications for Planetary Sustainability: A Qualitative Assessment

Ubiquitous and accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has been widely reported in recent scientific studies, implying rapid changes in the Arctic cryosphere. However, while numerous studies provide accounts of glacial mass loss and consequent sea level change, a qualitative assessment of the implications is conspicuously absent. This scoping review addresses that gap by synthesizing the recent scientific literature related to cryospheric change in Greenland and its implications for key species and ecological processes; and highlights the necessity of understanding the bigger picture of how multiple ecological processes, abiotic-biotic assemblages, and cryosphere-human interactions with the environment are rapidly changing and pushing the Arctic into a possible no-analog scenario in recent geological times. It is also argued that this situation presents a novel challenge for planetary sustainability and warrants the identification of new research priorities that can generate a holistic understanding of the complexity of the Arctic cryosphere, interactions between biotic and abiotic components, and local lifeworlds—all of which are related to the well-being of the Earth itself.