Saved by Summer Snow

Two enormous spikes of melting hit the Greenland Ice Sheet in July. But copious snow cover from earlier in the summer blunted the impact.

ImaGeo iconImaGeo
By Tom Yulsman
Aug 15, 2021 7:45 PM
Sentinel 2 Shortwave Infrared Composite View of Greenland on 7/29/21
This false color view of Greenland near Nuuk was acquired by the Sentinel 2 satellite on July 29, a day after the island's giant ice sheet experienced a massive episode of surface melting. In the image, the ice sheet is to the right, and dark blue indicates liquid water. (Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Tom Yulsman via EO Browser)

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You may have seen the headlines back in July: Thanks to a heat wave, enough ice melted during one day in Greenland to cover Florida in two inches of water.

Based on those headlines, you may have gotten the impression that the island's ice sheet had gone into a death spiral of melting. In reality, although the long-term trend remains quite serious, so far this summer snow has actually saved the day in Greenland.

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