Before and After Pictures Show Greenland's Ice After Hottest Month Ever

In the wake of a blisteringly hot July, which is thought to have been the hottest month on record, Greenland's arctic ice sheet can be seen melting away in satellite images.

In images taken by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite, and OLI-2 on Landsat 9, the Frederikshåb Glacier in southwest Greenland can be seen rapidly degrading. Huge swaths of brighter surface snow can be seen missing between the images, taken on June 14 and July 24, respectively.

These images come as up to 50 percent of Greenland's ice sheet surface was measured undergoing some degree of melt on several days in July, spanning over 300,000 square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

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This year has seen melting on 5 to 15 more days than average across July, with melt-day extent hitting a record high across the 45-year satellite record at the southern portion of the ice sheet.

This melting is thought to be due to plumes of warmer air that have been blowing across Greenland, which have been measured at between 3 and 4 degrees Fahrenheit above the average for this time of year in the southern portion of the ice sheet, and 5 degrees in the north.

This comes as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announces that this July 2023 is the hottest July ever, and the hottest month on record.

"We don't have to wait for the end of the month to know this. Short of a mini-Ice Age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the board," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a WMO statement.

"According to the data released today, July has already seen the hottest three-week period ever recorded; the three hottest days on record; and the highest-ever ocean temperatures for this time of year," he said.

"For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe – it is a cruel summer. For the entire planet, it is a disaster. And for scientists, it is unequivocal – humans are to blame. All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings. The only surprise is the speed of the change."

In the Landsat images of Greenland, increasing amounts of "dirty" ice can be seen. This change in color is due to the presence of particles like black carbon, soot, or dust, which may serve to exacerbate the melting of the ice, as darker colors absorb more heat than lighter ones.

Increased numbers of "melt-ponds" can also be seen in the images between June and July, which appear a dark blue in color in contrast to the white snow and ice.

A large number of locations around the world have seen record-breaking temperatures this July, including in China's Xinjiang province, which hit the new national temperature record of 126 degrees Fahrenheit on 16 July. As of July 30, in Phoenix, Arizona, 31 consecutive days have been recorded at 110 degrees Fahrenheit and above.

"Record-breaking temperatures are part of the trend of drastic increases in global temperatures. Anthropogenic emissions are ultimately the main driver of these rising temperatures," Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) at ECMWF, said in the WMO statement.

"July's record is unlikely to remain isolated this year, C3S' seasonal forecasts indicate that over land areas temperatures are likely to be well above average, exceeding the 80th percentile of climatology for the time of year."

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