Greenland's ice sheet is melting at record rates thanks to a heat wave and a melt that began at the beginning of May rather than, as it typically begins, at the end.
CNN reports: “This July alone, Greenland's ice sheet lost 197 billion tons of ice — the equivalent of around 80 million Olympic swimming pools — according to [Ruth] Mottram [of the Danish Meteorological Institute]. She told CNN the expected average would be between 60-70 billion tons at this time of year. The weather conditions that brought a heat wave to Europe last week have reached the Arctic, where scientists say they could trigger one of Greenland's biggest ice melts since 1950, when reliable records began.”
The Guardian adds: ‘The trend is accelerating. Wednesday was by far the biggest single-day melt-off of the year. “This was one of the highest ever and it is possible today [Thursday] will be even bigger because the heatwave is continuing,” said Mottram. With more than a month of the melt season to go, 2019 is already one of the top 10 years for ice loss in Greenland. The extent is thought unlikely to beat the record in 2012, but Luke Trusel, an assistant professor of geography at Penn State university, said the strength of the melt was greater.'
