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Global Warming: Summer worsens in the Arctic, record ice melts in Greenland

Experts said that the abnormal phenomenon resulting from the abrupt spike in melting was "unusual so early in the season, yet not unprecedented."

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The melting season in Greenland has started a month earlier than usual. (Photo: Rasmus Tonboe on Twitter)
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More than 40% of Greenland's ice sheets melted away on Thursday as the extent of ice over the Arctic Ocean reached a new low by mid-June standards, an observation by the National Snow and Ice Data Centre revealed.

The Polar Portal, monitoring the surface conditions of ice and climate in the Arctic, saw temperatures take off up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday in Greenland, even before proper summers arrived. Clear, unfrozen water was also found in spots north of Alaska where it had never occurred before.

 

 

Experts said that the abnormal phenomenon resulting from the abrupt spike in melting was "unusual so early in the season, yet not unprecedented", drawing equivalence to the record-setting melting year of 2012, that saw nearly the whole of Greenland ice sheet experience an unprecedented melting in the whole of written history. 

But this much melting right off the bat as summers are approaching in the mid-year could be an awful sign, demonstrating the fact that 2019 could by and by set unfortunate records for the measure of Greenland ice.

A map hosted by the Polar Portal illustrates how the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet gains and loses mass on a daily basis. This is known as the surface mass balance. It does not include the mass that is lost when glaciers calve off icebergs and melt as they come into contact with the warm sea water:

 


 

According to a CNN report, Thomas Mote, a research scientist at the University of Georgia who studies Greenland's climate, explained, "White snow and ice, which is bright and reflects the sun's rays back into space, reduces the amount of heat that is absorbed and helps to keep the ice sheet cold in a process known as "albedo".

According to Mote, these melt events early on in the season is a cause of concern as these will result in a decreased albedo, allowing more of the late summer heat to creep into the layer of ice and facilitate further melting as summer progresses.

Greenland's ice has historically been melting in cycles due to natural weather phenomena but rising temperatures have increased the trend. A study published in December 2018 in the scientific journal Nature found that Greenland's ice sheets which contain enough water to raise global sea levels by 23 feet -- have been melting at an "unprecedented" rate, 50 percent higher than pre-industrial levels and 33 percent above 20th-century levels.

The study also found that the rate of ice loss had accelerated to nearly four times what it was in nearly a decade. They also found that this acceleration largely took place in Greenland's southwest. 

 

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