Rapid Ice Melting: What's Causing It?

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the globe, causing two-thirds of global ice melt to occur in Greenland. The resulting Arctic meltdown was responsible for 40% of the world's rising seas in 2019. The rapid retreat of the planet's largest ice sheet will put low-lying islands and coastal areas at risk, and the Indigenous Inuit people are also at risk of losing habitat for local wildlife. Glaciers covered in rock and dirt tend to melt faster than cleaner ice, and an emerging problem in the western Greenland ice sheet is the unexplained arrival of a purple algae that is darkening the ice surface and absorbing more sunlight.