Greenland’s Rapidly Melting Glaciers Captured in Shocking NASA Images

Greenland glaciers, which were once covered with snow and ice, are starting to look increasingly barren. 

A new crop of NASA satellite images captures the stark transformation of glaciers that feed into the Sermilik Fjord, comparing the area's formerly ice-covered surface from 50 years ago to today's decidedly rockier appearance today.

'There’s a lot more bare rock visible now, which used to be covered with ice,' said Christopher Shuman, a glaciologist with the University of Maryland. 

'And all these little glaciers are all getting slammed, as well as the bigger ones like Helheim, Fenris and Midgard. There are scores of examples of change just in this one area.'

According to NASA, the Helheim Glacier, one of the largest and fastest-melting of its kind in Greenland, has already retreated approximately 4.7 miles (7.5 kilometers) while the Midgard Glacier has retreated approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers).

Images taken of Helheim also appear to show warm water accumulating on the glacier's top surface.

'NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) project flew over that open patch of water in an airplane and dropped a temperature-measuring probe that detected warm water at the ice front,' said NASA in a statement.

NASA says an unusual spike in temperatures is to blame for the phenomena.

Earlier this summer about 90 percent of the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet melted between July 30 and August 2, during which time an estimated 55 billion tons of ice poured of the island and into the ocean, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

As previously reported, Greenland lost a mind-bending 11 billion tons of ice in just one day -- a disconcerting feat recorded by scientists last month. 

The melt of Greenland's ice sheet is one of the more visible signs of man-made climate change spurred by the burning of fossil fuels, and has contributed to a rapid sea level rise which puts many coastal areas at risk.

If the entire Greenland ice sheet melted, it could add 20 feet or more to global sea level, experts warn.   

After Antarctica, Greenland's ice cap contains the second largest mass of frozen freshwater in the world. The ice sheet ice sheet covers 660,000 sq miles (1,710,000 square km), or roughly 80 per cent of the surface of Greenland.   

Despite that rapid melt, CO2 emissions have continued to skyrocket, however. 

According to the NOAA, levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere recorded at NOAA's Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory hit their highest seasonal peak in the observatory's 61 years on record, climbing to 414.7 parts per million in June.

A recent study from the U.N. found that even if the emission reductions kept stride with the Paris Agreement, a global climate accord that brought together 174 states around the world, the world's temperature would still continue to rise between 3-5 degrees Celsius throughout the next 30 years.