The Greenland Ice Sheet, which is second only to Antarctica in terms of freshwater ice mass, is the second largest on the planet.According to Danish researchers, Greenland's Ice Sheet has suffered a "massive melt event" in a heatwave that saw temperatures rise more than 10 degrees above the seasonal norms.The ice sheet that covers the Arctic has been melting at a rate of around eight billion tons per day since Wednesday, according to the Polar Portal website. This is twice the normal summer average, which was reported by Danish researchers.According to the Danish Meteorological Institute, temperatures reached more than 20 degrees Celsius (68 F), which is more than twice the average summer temperature in northern Greenland.Nerlerit Inaat Airport in the northeast of territory registered 23.4 degrees Thursday, which is the highest temperature recorded since records began.The Polar Portal website reported that the heatwave, which affected most of Greenland on the day, caused a "massive melt event" that produced enough water to "cover Florida with two inches" (five centimeters).The summer of 2019 was the largest melting season for the Greenland Ice Sheet.The website said that the area where this melting occurred is much larger than it was two years ago.With nearly 1.8 Million square kilometers (695,000 sq miles) of freshwater ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet is second to Antarctica.The melting of the glaciers began in 1990, and has been increasing since 2000. According to Polar Portal researchers, the mass loss in recent years has been approximately four times higher than before 2000.A January European study found that the oceans would rise between 10-18 centimeters by 2100, or 60 percent faster than originally estimated. This was due to the Greenland Ice Sheet melting.If the Greenland Ice Sheet were to melt completely, it would raise ocean levels by six to 7 meters.Polar Portal says that despite a cool start to the Greenland summer with snowfalls, rains, the retreating ice sheet for 2021 is still within historical norm. The melting period runs from June through September.Greenland sets new records for temperatures and ice melts earlier2021 AFP
