Thinner than the 2.3-kilometer-thick center, the outer edges of the Greenland ice sheet develop melt zones like the one shown here during the warm summer months.
Published Apr 7, 2007
To understand ice sheets, glaciologists venture both below the surface with ice cores, and into the sky with satellites. Satellite imagery of the Greenland Ice Sheet reveals melt ponds that can affect glacier flow and sea level.
Published Oct 29, 2008
Melt ponds on the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet are an important indicator of the strength of the 2013 melt season.
Published Jul 9, 2013
A summer field campaign examines the hydrology of the water streaming across the top of the ice sheet.
Published Aug 30, 2015
Captured near the end of 2012, this image shows a mixture of sea ice, land ice, and fresh snow.
Published Jan 6, 2013
By 2090, the scale could tilt in the favor of ice loss instead of buildup.
Published Jan 31, 2017Image of the Day Heat Human Presence Snow and Ice Remote Sensing
NASA aircraft return to the Arctic to assess the health of the region’s ice.
Published May 3, 2012
Scientists pose an array of explanations for the strange circular features visible on sea ice in the eastern Beaufort Sea.
Published Apr 21, 2018
Sections of the Greenland Ice Sheet that end on land are slowing—a sliver of good news for sea level rise.
Published Oct 30, 2015
Oceanographers and ice experts have begun a five-year field campaign to study how the ocean might be melting Greenland’s icy edges.
Published Apr 5, 2016
Researchers working in Antarctica have found evidence of large-scale ice making at the bottom of that continent's massive ice sheets.
Published Apr 21, 2011
The 2011 Greenland melt season was up to 30 days longer than the 1979–2010 average. This color-coded map shows where melt season lasted more or less than average.
Published Dec 6, 2011
Taken from a low-flying airplane on March 26, 2011, these detailed photos of Arctic sea ice show the richly varied texture in the ice floe.
Published Apr 1, 2011
