Greenland lost 258,000 million tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2013.

See the latest NASA Greenland Mass Variation graph.

(This was on https followed by ://climate.nasa.gov/key_indicators#landIce )

This graph shows the movement over time of the mass of the Greenland ice sheet, measured in thousands of millions of tons (gigatons).

“On average, in the summer, about half of the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet naturally melts. At high elevations, most of that meltwater quickly refreezes in place. Near the coast, some of the meltwater is retained by the ice sheet and the rest is lost to the ocean. But in 2012, the extent of surface ice melting jumped dramatically. According to satellite data, an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface thawed at some point in mid-July.”

(This was on a 2012 NASA page “www followed by .nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/greenland-melt.html”)

Longer, warmer summers in Greenland meant that, in 2013, people could grow vegetables and herbs. This was unheard of only 13 years ago.

(Salad days in Greenland signal a warming climate: 26 March 2013: Sydney Morning Herald: Broken Link)

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Dangers

Greenland is warming significantly. This warming is a danger to all seaside cities. If the entire Greenland Ice Sheet melted, global sea level would rise by about 6 meters.

US National Snow and Ice Data Centre NSIDC: Cryosphere: Quick Facts: Ice Sheets (Find and click “ice sheets”)

It is not sustainable for us to have the Greenland ice sheet losing 258,000 million tons of ice each year and showing dramatic signs of more rapid melting.

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Created 2014: Updated 10 Jan 2026.