A recent speedy melting of Greenland's ice sheet has resulted in shocking statistics. Only three percent of Greenland's ice sheet, which is the top layer of the ice block, remains.
Drastic changes in the environment have been occurring for quite awhile, many attributing the cause to global warming. Greenland gets about 30,000 cruise visitors per year. Most of the top tourist trips revolve around the ice or wildlife, such as watching polar bears or whales. Patricia Schultz, the author of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die," calls Greenland "the ultimate frontier."
But this sudden phenomenon has left scientists all across the globe, astonished. From July 8 to July 12, NASA satellites recorded a 97 percent defrosting of the ice. Melting was even seen at Summit Station, the country's highest and coldest place. What is hugely alarming is that in general scientists observe such drastic change in the environment to occur over a prolonged period of about 150-year or more.
"This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to data error," Son Nghiem, a researcher from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, told Digital Trends.
Scientists believe that the melting was caused by a very warm steam of air that enveloped Greenland. Greenland residents have been reportedly noticing how sunny the island was. They didn't know that the phenomenon was actually part of a much bigger and scarier picture. This phenomenon is very rare and it occurs due to immediate monsoon fluctuation which happens once in 500 years.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
