First ever observation of rain over Greenland’s peak

Since measurements began just over 70 years ago, all the rain that has fallen on the Greenland ice sheet has been in the form of snow – until last week. When the temperature then rose above zero for the third time in a decade, rain fell over the ice-capped peak.

Heavy rain threatens to accelerate the melting of massive ice. On Sunday, the ice broke up seven times as much as on an average day. Ted Schampos, a climate researcher at the University of Colorado, says: CNN That rare precipitation is, to say the least, a sign that the Greenland ice sheet is melting at a rapid pace.

The National Science Foundation upper station is located on the highest peak of Greenland’s ice sheet. From there, researchers over the past decade have observed changes in both Arctic weather and ice.

It’s raining now Also, weather in upper Greenland, according to Jennifer Mercer, who is responsible for the research program at the upper station, means that melt conditions are changing.

– During the past 10 years, unusual weather phenomena such as snowmelt, strong winds, and now rains are becoming more and more common. CNN reports that the masses of water now distributed on the surface of the ice in small lakes contribute to the ice absorbing more heat.

In July, one of the highest temperatures ever observed at the upper station, the heat led to record melting and in one day, 8.5 billion tons of ice body mass was liberated.

Read more: The world’s glaciers are melting at a faster rate than ever before