Greenland’s ice is on the hot seat again.
A heat wave, possibly the biggest in a century, washed over the frozen island in mid-July. Around 97 percent of the surface ice melted temporarily. Slush even appeared at Greenland’s highest, coldest spot.
The massive ice cap also darkened a lot this year, so it absorbs more of the sun’s energy and melts still faster. Overall, more of Greenland’s ice melted in June and July than in any previous year during the satellite era, says Marco Tedesco of the City University of New York.