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Image: NASA Earth Observatory, Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon

Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt in 2012

Satellite observations show dramatic melting

For several days in July 2012, Greenland's surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations. Nearly the entire ice cover of Greenland, from its thin, low-lying coastal edges to its two-mile-thick center, experienced some degree of melting at its surface, according to measurements from three independent satellites analyzed by NASA and university scientists.

Source and further information: NASA Earth Observatory: Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt in 2012
Image: Credit: N.E. DiGirolamo / J. Allen, NASA Earth Observatory

On average in the summer, about half of the surface of Greenland's ice sheet naturally melts. At high elevations, most of that melt water quickly refreezes in place. Near the coast, some of the melt water is retained by the ice sheet and the rest is lost to the ocean. But this year the extent of ice melting at or near the surface jumped dramatically. According to satellite data, an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface thawed at some point in mid-July.
This extreme melt event coincided with an unusually strong ridge of warm air, or a heat dome, over Greenland. The ridge was one of a series that has dominated Greenland's weather since the end of May.
Even the area around Summit Station in central Greenland, which at 2 miles above sea level is near the highest point of the ice sheet, showed signs of melting. Such pronounced melting at Summit and across the ice sheet has not occurred since 1889, according to ice cores analyses.

Source and further information: NASA Earth Observatory: Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt in 2012
Source and further information: NASA Earth Observatory: Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt in 2012Image: Credit: N.E. DiGirolamo / J. Allen, NASA Earth Observatory

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  • Climatic effects
  • Cryosphere
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  • Ice sheets
  • Impacts of climate change