On Saturday, it rained for several hours near the summit of Greenland’s ice sheet. This was the first recorded rain event in the area's history. It also occurred at a time when temperatures were above freezing.
According to the National Snow and Ice Date Center, the rainfall took place at the highest point of the country's ice sheets. The weather was recorded at Greenland's Summit Station which is located 10,551 feet above the sea level. It is 9 feet below reaching 2 miles elevation. The area's first weather records were made in 1950.
In addition to the never-before-recorded rainfall, temperatures were above freezing for over nine hours, only the fourth time in history, but the third time since 2012.
According to the agency, the reason for higher temperatures is related to a similar event which occurred weeks ago and resulted in moistened air being pushed across the country.
According to the agency, the rain and warmer air combined with the rain resulted in 7 billion tons of rainfall on Sunday. This caused a seven-fold increase in the surface mass loss on Sunday. The melted area was back to moderate levels by Monday.
Greenland's 656,000-square mile ice sheet measures approximately 656,000 square miles. However, climate change has caused Greenland's glaciers to melt and risen sea levels. NASA estimates that if the entire country's ice sheets were to melt and flow into the oceans, global sea levels would rise by 23 feet. Earth's rotation speed would slow down enough for the length of a day to be two milliseconds longer. Many coastal cities would also be affected.
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Ted Scambos is a senior researcher scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado. He told CNN that the rain was unprecedented.
He said, "What's going on isn't just a warm decade or so in a wanderingclimate pattern."
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This article first appeared on USA TODAY. Greenland's ice summit receives rain instead of snow in an unusual first
