Satellites show rare, massive melting event in Greenland
JUL 25, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026197
Washington Post : NASA has released satellite images showing the extent of thawing of Greenland’s ice sheet from 8 to 12 July. Over the four-day period, the total area of surface melt increased from 40% to 97%. Although previous satellite imagery had recorded a maximum thawing area of only 55%, ice-core records indicate that near-total thawing events occur approximately every 150 years, with the last having taken place in 1889. The data don’t show how much ice actually melted during the recent event, but the sheet does appear to be refreezing. Greenland has experienced an unusually warm summer caused by high-pressure systems like those that have warmed much of the US. Because similar events occurred before the Industrial Revolution, the melt can’t be tied to human-induced global warming.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
