Ice Sheets Today

In late February and early March, two record melt events for that time of year occurred on the Antarctic Peninsula. Overall, however, the 2023 to 2024 melt season was slightly below the 45-year average because of low melt regions outside of the Antarctic Peninsula. 

Ice sheet surface melt on the Antarctic Peninsula abruptly dropped in mid-January and remained low through February 15. By contrast, melt day totals for the season were above average for the northern Larsen C and George VI Ice Shelves.

With the melt season well underway in the Southern Hemisphere, several ice shelves extending from the Antarctic Ice Sheet show above average melting, with significant melting in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

As of December 15, the Antarctic Ice Sheet had above average melt in the Amery and Dronning Maud Land Ice Shelf regions, with significant melting on the Antarctic Peninsula. Greenland’s 2023 melt season was the third highest on record.

NSIDC has launched an upgraded and streamlined Ice Sheets Today website. The new site replaces the site previously known as Greenland Today and Antarctica Today. Ice Sheets Today offers easy access to melt statistics and scientific analysis of ice sheet conditions.

A strong weather pattern from August 21 to 24 caused widespread melting across Greenland. This unusually late summer melt event was caused by a high and low air pressure configuration known as an omega pattern because of its jet stream shape.

Late June ushered in a significant shift in weather and melting for Greenland, particularly for the southern portion of the ice sheet, known as South Dome, where melting is currently on a record pace. Melting along the northern rim of the ice sheet is also greater than average.

The melt season for the Greenland Ice Sheet has been near-average so far, with cool conditions in northern Greenland despite warm weather in nearby Arctic Canada. A small region of the ice sheet may not be properly mapped as it shows a higher number of melt days than is likely considering the observed weather for that area.

The Antarctic Peninsula has had an intense melt season with above average melting persisting through much of February. Saturated snow from a high melt year and low sea ice in Bellingshausen Sea have led to a series of minor calving events on the Wilkins Ice Shelf. Elsewhere in Antarctica, melting was near average.

Surface melting over Antarctica was near-average through January, but above average surface melting occurred on both the northeastern and southwestern areas of the Antarctic Peninsula.

As the peak of Antarctica's melt season approaches, surface snow melting has been widespread over coastal West Antarctica, with much of the low-lying areas of the Peninsula and northern West Antarctic coastline showing 5 to 10 days more melting than average. However, much of the East Antarctic coast is near average.

Daily monitoring of surface melting in Antarctica resumes for the 2022-2023 season. Early melting through November has been limited to the region near the northern Larsen Ice Shelf, the Wilkins Ice Shelf, and an unusual melt event in Wilkes Land and Northern Victoria Land.

While most of the 2022 Greenland melt season was near average, September set records for high temperatures, melt extent, and ice loss.

As most of the western United States baked under a prolonged, record-setting heatwave at the beginning of September, Greenland also underwent a very unusual late-season melt event.

A moderate melt surge swept across northern Greenland and then encompassed much of the ice sheet perimeter in mid-July. Overall, the 2022 summer season in Greenland continues at a modest pace relative to the past few years.

Seasonal surface melting in Greenland got off to a slow start in 2022. In Antarctica, several areas had an intense coastal surface melting pulse at the end of the summer.

As a whole, surface melting on the Antarctic Ice Sheet has been near average. After a series of warm events followed by intense down-slope winds, the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula sustained widespread melting . The Peninsula also experienced a strong late-season melt event.

So far during the austral spring and summer, except for the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula and in the area of the Roi Baudion Ice Shelf, few areas on the Antarctic Ice Sheet had any significant surface melting as of this post.

Two near-record melt events occurred in the 2021 melt season for the Greenland Ice Sheet, in late July and in mid-August. During the second event, an unprecedented occurrence of rain at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station took place.

On August 14, 2021, rain was observed at the highest point on the Greenland Ice Sheet for several hours, and air temperatures remained above freezing for about nine hours.