Post by CMF Newsman on Jul 25, 2012 6:16:48 GMT -5
GREENLAND — Nearly all of the ice sheet covering Greenland's surface melted over several days in July - something scientists have never seen before.
Images from NASA satellites have shown the largest melting since they began watching the area 30 years ago. Even Greenland's coldest and highest place, Summit Station, experienced melting.
On average in the summer, only about half of the surface of Greenland's ice sheet naturally melts. On July 8th, 40% of the ice sheet had thawed, but four days later this had jumped to 97%.
NASA Son Nghiem said: "This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?" It's not yet clear whether this melting will have an effect on overall volume of ice loss this summer, or sea level rise.
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/18980361
Images from NASA satellites have shown the largest melting since they began watching the area 30 years ago. Even Greenland's coldest and highest place, Summit Station, experienced melting.
On average in the summer, only about half of the surface of Greenland's ice sheet naturally melts. On July 8th, 40% of the ice sheet had thawed, but four days later this had jumped to 97%.
NASA Son Nghiem said: "This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?" It's not yet clear whether this melting will have an effect on overall volume of ice loss this summer, or sea level rise.
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/18980361
