Greenland’s Meltdown Accelerates During May Heatwave, Scientists Warn

A recent heatwave in May caused Greenland’s ice sheet to melt at an astonishing rate 17 times faster than the average during the same period over the past decades, according to a report by the World Weather Attribution (WWA). This alarming surge in melting underscores the rapid pace of climate change, especially in the Arctic, which has warmed four times faster than the global average since 1979, as highlighted in a 2022 study in Nature.

Friederike Otto, an associate professor in climate science at Imperial College London and one of the report’s authors, explained the implications. “The melting rate of the Greenland ice sheet by, from a preliminary analysis, a factor of 17… means the Greenland ice sheet contribution to sea level rise is higher than it would have otherwise been without this heat wave,” she said. Otto emphasized that without the influence of climate change, such extreme melting would have been nearly impossible.

The data compared the heatwave from May 15-21, 2025, to the historical average for the same week from 1980 to 2010. During this period, the Arctic regions experienced unprecedented temperatures. In Iceland, temperatures soared above 26°C (79°F) on May 15, surpassing the usual values for that time of year more than 13°C (23°F) above the average from 1991-2020. Nearly 94% of Iceland’s weather stations recorded their highest May temperatures on record, according to the country’s meteorological institute.

In eastern Greenland, the heatwave pushed daytime temperatures about 3.9°C warmer than preindustrial climate levels, further illustrating the region’s vulnerability. Otto noted, “While a heatwave that is around 20 degrees Celsius might not sound like an extreme event from the experience of most people around the world, it is a really big deal for this part of the world,” highlighting how even seemingly moderate temperature spikes can have profound impacts in sensitive polar regions.

This rapid melting accelerates sea level rise and signals an urgent need for global climate action to curb further warming and mitigate catastrophic consequences for vulnerable ecosystems and coastal communities worldwide.