Danish researchers discovered that Greenland's huge ice sheet has been affected by a "massive melt event", with enough ice melting in one day to cover Florida in just two inches (5 cm) of water.According to Polar Portal, a Danish site that tracks Arctic climate research, 9.37 billion tons (8.5 million metric tons) have been removed daily from the ice sheet's surface since July 27. According to the Danish Meteorological Institute, this huge loss occurred after north Greenland temperatures reached a record high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Celsius), twice the summer average.The third-largest single day loss of ice in Greenland was caused by high temperatures on July 28, 1950. The second and first largest single-day losses were in 2012 and 2019. The Greenlands' annual ice loss started in 1990. It has been four times faster than before 2000 in recent years.Similar: Images of melt Earth's disappearing iceAlthough the amount of ice that was melted during this summer's event was lower than two years ago it could have been worse.In a tweet, Polar Portal researchers stated that while 2019 is not as extreme in terms of gigatons as 2019, the melting area is still much larger than it was two years ago.According to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, global sea levels would rise approximately 20 feet (6 metres) if all Greenlands ice melts.Xavier Fettweis (a climate scientist at University of Lige in Belgium) estimated that approximately 24 billion tons (22 million metric tons of ice) had melted from Greenlands ice sheets on July 28. With 13 billion tons (12 miliarde metric tons), making their way into the ocean, he said. He tweeted that the remaining 11 billion tons (10 million metric tons), of melted ice were reabsorbed by the snowpack due to recent heavy snowfall.Fettweis attributes the acceleration in melting to an atmospheric phenomenon, known as an anticyclone. It is located above the continent. Anticyclones are areas of high pressure that allow the air inside them to sink. They also heat up during the summer, creating conditions where hot weather can last for a long period.The Greenlands melt season runs typically from June to September. According to data from the Danish government, this years melting season saw more than 110 billion tonnes (100 billion metric tons), of ice melt into oceans.According to the NSIDC, the Greenlands ice sheets is the only permanent ice on Earth. It covers an area of approximately 656,000 square miles (1.7 Million square kilometers)According to the NSIDC Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet make up 99% Earth's freshwater resources. However, both are losing mass at an accelerated pace due to climate change. According to a January 2021 study in The Cryosphere, the sheets have lost 7 trillion tons (6.4 billion metric tons) of their ice mass since 1994.Scientists are witnessing a Greenlands trend in accelerated melting. This is also a trend that has been observed in other icy regions around the globe. Live Science reported that Earth's glaciers lost on average 293.7 billion tonnes (266 billion metric tons) per year between 2000 and 2019. This accounts for 21% of the observed sea-level rise over that period. Live Science previously reported that Earth loses enough ice each year to cover an area as large as Lake Superior.Original publication on Live Science
