Greenland snow melting at record pace

BALTIMORE, Sept. 26 (UPI) — A U.S. study shows an overall rise in the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, with high altitude snows melting at 150 percent more than average.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration-supported research showed the amount of snow that has melted this year over Greenland could cover the surface size of the United States more than twice.



Marco Tedesco of NASA’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology at the University of Maryland used satellite data to compare average snow melting from 1988-2006 with this summer’s conditions. He found that in areas more than 1.2 miles above sea level, melting occurred 25-30 days longer this year than the observed average during the previous 19 years.

“When snow melts at those high altitudes and then refreezes, it can absorb up to four times more energy than fresh, unthawed snow,” said Tedesco. “This can affect Earth’s energy budget by changing how much radiation from the sun is absorbed by the Earth versus that reflected back into the atmosphere.

UPI