The Greenland ice sheet spans approximately 656,000 square miles and measures about 1.9 miles deep at its thickest point and contains roughly 8% of all of Earth's freshwater.
Greenland and Arctic Sea Ice
Nowhere on Earth is climate change happening faster than in the Arctic, where the island of Greenland stands as one of the most visible symbols of the impacts that are already being felt.
To give you a point of reference, Greenland is about three times the size of Texas and about 80% of it is covered by ice.
Satellite measurements taken since 1979 show a 12% decline in sea ice per decade.
What if all of it were to melt?
Scientists estimate that if all 684,000 cubic miles of the Greenland ice sheet were to melt away completely, it would raise the world's oceans by approximately 23 feet, putting just about every coastal city in the world under water.
This scenario is not predicted to happen anytime soon. But sea level rise is already putting many coastal communities at risk.
Over the past 20 years, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet has been responsible for
roughly one sixth of the annual rise in global sea levels.
And the melting is accelerating
In 2003 warming air temperatures began to melt the northeastern portion of the ice sheet much more quickly than before.
Glaciers in this region have retreated as much as 12 miles in the last 15 years. This is alarming considering glacial retreat at this magnitude has taken as much as 150 years in the past.
