According to the Danish government, Greenland lost 8.5 billion tons of ice on Tuesday, July 27 alone. In addition, 8.4 billion tons of snow was lost on July 29th.
Experts say the amount of snow that disappears is huge, with melted ice on Tuesday submerging the entire U.S. state of Florida in 5 centimeters of water.
Melting ice in Greenland flows like water in the ocean, where it contributes to the continuous rise in global sea level due to climate change.
Colombian glacier expert Marco Tedesco said, “This has a very high melting rate and is likely to change the face of Greenland because it will accelerate future melting and therefore be a very powerful factor in sea level rise.”
He also said that the temperature in Greenland rose to 19.8 degrees on Wednesday.
“In the past, we had these atmospheric events, but now they are becoming more and more frequent and coming more and more … It’s amazing to see how vulnerable these large, giant icebergs are. I wonder how powerful the forces are,” Tedesco said.
The melting season in Greenland usually lasts from June to August. Danish government data show that the island has lost more than 100 billion tons of ice since the beginning of June this year. However, this is not yet a record because Greenland lost 11 billion tons of snow a day in 2019.