On the world's largest island, scientists say something frighteningly remarkable is happening. Greenland's ice sheet is melting at an astonishing rate, according to researchers.
While September traditionally marks the end of the ice-melt season for the massive island, this year, something alarming is happening, Scientific American reported.
Scientists are looking at an area twice the size of France and noticing a high rate of ice melt continuing into a part of the year when it would usually be halted by colder weather.
Xavier Fettweis, a climate scientist at the University of Liège in Belgium, called the strong melting rate so late in the year "exceptional."
Climate scientists have put Greenland's melting ice sheet at the top of their list of natural concerns as the Earth as a whole is said to be warming.
And for Greenland, the island's melting ice is currently pouring around 250 billion tons of ice into the ocean every year. It's being dumped into the sea in the form of disintegrating glaciers along with surface ice that is melting.
The more the melting continues, the less snow will accumulate. That means future ice melts will persist in this extended manner.
