The Carbon Brief blog has an interesting review of how newspapers have put very different spins on a recent study in the journal Science about how fast Greenland’s glaciers are moving. The research by scientists at the University of Washington in the USA analysed data from satellites monitoring over 200 glaciers around the edges of the Greenland ice sheet between 2000 and 2010. The glaciers moved at different speeds, depending on the region, and different types of glacier have grown and shrunk at different rates.

The Carbon Brief blog reports on a range of “wildly differing” interpretations of these facts, with different news agencies creating almost opposite headlines. Reuters reported that Greeland’s glaciers were speeding up, raising sea levels faster than before. Agence France Press headlined that Greenland’s glaciers may melt slower than thought.

It’s worth reading the blog for their analysis of what the research actually said and what it implies, and how and why different media outlets put their own spin on the meaning.