Before And After Pictures Show Greenland's Rapid Ice Melt From Space

An extraordinary heatwave in Europe is turning Greenland's ice sheets to water last week. According to Ruth Mottram, a climate researcher with the Danish Meteorological Institute, the ice sheet melt sent 197 billion tons of water into the Atlantic Ocean during July. Satellite imagery from European satellite network Sentinel has revealed the true extent of the thaw.

According to Euro News, pictures from Pierre Markuse, an expert in satellite imagery, show how the ice sheet evolved from 2018 to 2019. In these images, the darker ice indicates a great level of melting because it absorbs larger amounts of sunlight.

Images from this year show large melt ponds in West Greenland. Pictured is a 72km-wide area, it shows that dark ice has advanced around 10km.

However, measurements of surface melt don't take into account calving, so experts estimate the total ice loss is much greater.

This melt event is being compared to the extreme heat and melt event that occurred in Greenland in 2012, when 97 percent of ice surface experienced melting.