Democracy Dies in Darkness
Capital Weather Gang

The Greenland ice sheet experienced a massive melting event last week

This could have short-term and long-term implications for sea-level rise.

By
August 5, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. EDT
These satellite images show melting in Kangerlussuaq in western Greenland on July 9 and July 29, 2021. More melt ponds appear in the east on July 29, while fjords show an increase in sediment deposition potentially associated with runoff from melt events. (European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 data processed by DG DEFIS)

Last week, a heat wave spurred Greenland’s biggest melting event of the 2021 season so far. The Polar Portal, run by Danish research institutions, stated that enough water melted to cover all of Florida with two inches of water.

“It’s becoming more and more common to see these large melt events,” said Lauren Andrews, a glaciologist with NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office. “That’s because we generally have a warmer climate.”