Greenland is a big island -- about the size of Saudi Arabia -- covered by ice and snow. But climate experts agree that frozen ground cover is melting at an accelerating pace, raising the sea level.
Greenland Icemelt
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Greenland’s supraglacial rivers are large and swift. Note researchers on right for scale! (UCLA/Laurence C. Smith)
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The UCLA-led study finds that a vast network of previously little-understood rivers and streams that flow on the ice sheet into the ocean could be a major factor contributing to rising sea levels. (UCLA/Laurence C. Smith)
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All of the 523 supraglacial rivers abruptly end in moulins, such as the one seen near the top of this photo. (UCLA/Laurence C. Smith)
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Meltwater formed on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet rushes into supraglacial rivers that then fall into moulins or sinkholes such as the one shown here. (UCLA/Laurence C. Smith)
