Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Greenland's Bejeweled Ice Sheet
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellites/landsat-9/landsat-9-instruments/oli-2-design/Greenland’s Bejeweled Ice Sheet
July 2, 2025
In spring 2025, jewel-toned points of blue began to appear on the white surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As summer arrived, they grew larger and more numerous, taking on unique shapes and occasionally forming connections. The colorful seasonal phenomenon is due to meltwater from snow and ice, which pools atop the ice sheet in places each melt season.
An array of melt ponds dotted the ice sheet in western Greenland on July 2, 2025, when the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 acquired this image. Ponding is typical this time of year, especially in the area shown here, east of Nordenskiöld Glacier and southeast of Jakobshavn Glacier (Sermeq Kujalleq), not pictured.
Part of the ice sheet appears brownish gray because impurities, such as black carbon or dust, remain behind as the snow and ice melt, exposing old, dark, “dirty” ice. Darkening of the ice surface lowers its albedo, or reflectiveness, which can hasten melting through the absorption of additional energy from the Sun in the summer months.
July 2, 2025
Scientists are interested in melt ponds in part because water can affect how the ice moves. When ponds grow large enough, they can force open crevasses in the ice. Meltwater that drains through these cracks to the base of the ice can act as a lubricant between the ice sheet and bedrock and temporarily speed up the flow of ice toward the coast.
Melt ponds can also indicate the strength of a Greenland melting season, which generally runs from May to early September. As of June 20, 2025, the surface melting was tracking slightly above average, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Two surges in melting—one in mid-May and another in mid-June—were strongest along the ice sheet’s western boundary. Time will tell if summer melting will migrate even farther inland, as it did throughout July 2024.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Kathryn Hansen
July 2, 2025
In spring 2025, jewel-toned points of blue began to appear on the white surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As summer arrived, they grew larger and more numerous, taking on unique shapes and occasionally forming connections. The colorful seasonal phenomenon is due to meltwater from snow and ice, which pools atop the ice sheet in places each melt season.
An array of melt ponds dotted the ice sheet in western Greenland on July 2, 2025, when the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 acquired this image. Ponding is typical this time of year, especially in the area shown here, east of Nordenskiöld Glacier and southeast of Jakobshavn Glacier (Sermeq Kujalleq), not pictured.
Part of the ice sheet appears brownish gray because impurities, such as black carbon or dust, remain behind as the snow and ice melt, exposing old, dark, “dirty” ice. Darkening of the ice surface lowers its albedo, or reflectiveness, which can hasten melting through the absorption of additional energy from the Sun in the summer months.
July 2, 2025
Scientists are interested in melt ponds in part because water can affect how the ice moves. When ponds grow large enough, they can force open crevasses in the ice. Meltwater that drains through these cracks to the base of the ice can act as a lubricant between the ice sheet and bedrock and temporarily speed up the flow of ice toward the coast.
Melt ponds can also indicate the strength of a Greenland melting season, which generally runs from May to early September. As of June 20, 2025, the surface melting was tracking slightly above average, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Two surges in melting—one in mid-May and another in mid-June—were strongest along the ice sheet’s western boundary. Time will tell if summer melting will migrate even farther inland, as it did throughout July 2024.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Kathryn Hansen
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2025/06/04/the-domino-effect-of-trumps-nasa-climate-cuts-00385619
The domino effect of Trump’s NASA climate cuts
By ARIANNA SKIBELL | 06/04/2025 06:00 PM EDT
President Donald Trump wants to decimate NASA’s climate research capacity. That could ultimately disrupt multiple sectors of the economy, writes Scott Waldman.
In the White House budget documents released last week, Trump proposed slashing a quarter of NASA’s funding, specifically targeting the agency’s research on climate change. But many of NASA’s instruments that track human-caused climate change provide other critical data.
The agriculture industry, for example, relies on satellites and instruments that not only track climate change but also keep tabs on shifts in climatic zones that affect plant growth. Trump wants to eliminate funding that keeps those tools operational.
Trump has proposed axing NASA’s Surface Geology and Biology mission, which monitors methane and carbon pollution but also hunts for and identifies deposits of critical minerals. Also endangered is NASA’s Landsat satellite program, which provides key data on water levels and distribution as well as the ways global warming is altering Earth.
:
By ARIANNA SKIBELL | 06/04/2025 06:00 PM EDT
President Donald Trump wants to decimate NASA’s climate research capacity. That could ultimately disrupt multiple sectors of the economy, writes Scott Waldman.
In the White House budget documents released last week, Trump proposed slashing a quarter of NASA’s funding, specifically targeting the agency’s research on climate change. But many of NASA’s instruments that track human-caused climate change provide other critical data.
The agriculture industry, for example, relies on satellites and instruments that not only track climate change but also keep tabs on shifts in climatic zones that affect plant growth. Trump wants to eliminate funding that keeps those tools operational.
Trump has proposed axing NASA’s Surface Geology and Biology mission, which monitors methane and carbon pollution but also hunts for and identifies deposits of critical minerals. Also endangered is NASA’s Landsat satellite program, which provides key data on water levels and distribution as well as the ways global warming is altering Earth.
: