Times Atlas' 'Ice-free Greenland Due to Climate Change' Claim Contested By Scientists

Leading UK polar scientists have rejected the Times Atlas of the World's contention that it had to re-draw Greenland's map, which has shrunk significantly due to climate change.

The atlas' 13th "comprehensive" edition contains numerous revisions made in the wake of environmental changes since the 2007 edition, including restructured Greenland's map.

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The atlas' publicity department had earlier claimed that global warming had rendered 15 percent of ice-capped Greenland "green and ice-free".

"For the first time, the new edition of the (atlas) has had to erase 15% of Greenland's once permanent ice cover - turning an area the size of the United Kingdom and Ireland 'green' and ice-free," the Atlas' publicity said.

"This is concrete evidence of how climate change is altering the face of the planet forever - and doing so at an alarming and accelerating rate," it added.

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But Scott Polar Research Institute, which is involved in research that documents the impact of climate change across the Arctic, rejected the figures cited by the atlas, BBC reports.

Though it agreed that rising temperatures has shrunk ice cover on the fringes of Greenland, it is not at a rapid rate as the Times Atlas claimed.

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"Recent satellite images of Greenland make it clear that there are in fact still numerous glaciers and permanent ice cover where the new Times Atlas shows ice-free conditions and the emergence of new lands," the institute said in a letter that has been sent to the Times.

A spokesperson for HarperCollins, atlas' publisher, said Greenland's new map is based on the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) information.

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Source-ANI