As Boreal summer wanes, the warming trouble in the icy regions continues. A sweeping melt is unfolding across large parts of the Greenland ice sheet this September, an unprecedented pattern that could influence ice dynamics into the next year. The added ocean water from this rapid meltdown contributes to higher sea levels.
Greenland typically experiences its melt season from May through early September. The 2022 season started slowly, with cooler May and June temperatures producing the smallest spring melt in a decade. Melting persisted at a moderate pace through the summer, peaking in mid-July. On July 18, surface melt covered about 688,000 square kilometers of ice, roughly the size of France.
Biggest meltdown ever seen in September
The late-summer heat wave sparked a major meltdown from September 1–6. At its height on September 3, melt extended over 592,000 square kilometers of the ice sheet, marking the second-largest melt peak of 2022 and the largest for any September since record-keeping began in 1979. Such intense September melt events are rare because seasonal temperatures typically drop as days shorten (NASA Earth Observatory). This assessment reflects observations from the period and historical patterns.
Greenland melt imagery and reporting show the scale of the event as shown in imagery. The accompanying map presents air temperatures from August 30 to September 5, 2022, compared with the same period in 2020, a year typically associated with higher melt. In several locations, temperatures rose as much as 15°C above 2020 levels. At Summit Station, temperatures reportedly hovered above 0°C during the period (NASA Earth Observatory).
The map is generated from the Goddard Earth Observation System (GEOS) model and represents air temperatures two meters above the surface. This modeling approach uses mathematical equations to simulate real-world processes across regions where surface weather stations are sparse, offering a broad, predictive view of the melt dynamics.
Sea level rise
Greenland harbors the largest ice sheet outside Antarctica, covering roughly 1.7 million square kilometers. Ice mass grows through snowfall and decreases via surface melt, runoff, iceberg calving, and bottom melting at tidewater glaciers. In recent years, warming air and water have shifted the balance toward loss, contributing to rising sea levels.
Events like the early September 2022 melt could influence ongoing and future ice losses, a view supported by glaciologist Lauren Andrews of NASA’s Office of Global Modeling and Assimilation (NASA Earth Observatory).
The phenomenon is expected to affect sea level dynamics in coastal regions around the world, including North American shores (NASA Earth Observatory).
“Overall, the total mass lost during the melt season grows as the season extends,” Andrews notes. “What is less obvious is that a longer melting season can delay snow accumulation on the surface. That, in turn, may affect the strength of the next melt season.”
Fewer winter snowdrifts mean less snow cover to reflect sunlight, so darker bare ice can absorb more solar energy during bright Arctic days, accelerating melting in the long, sunlit months ahead.
Reference article: NASA Earth Observatory images on late-season melting in Greenland.
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