NASA takes stunning images of one of Earth's last great ice sheets

kmsp - It’s a part of the world many of us will never see with our own eyes, one of 2 remaining large glaciers in the world, Greenland sitting atop the world as one of the most desolate places on the planet.  Doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a beautiful landscape all its own. 

With global temperatures on the rise for one reason or another, the world’s glaciers continue to shrink.  There are still several dozen small glaciers left on Earth, but just two large ice sheets left from the numerous ice ages that have occurred over the last million years.  That is the main reason why NASA is conducting a one of a kind survey of Greenland.

No, they aren’t there just to take some magnificent pictures.  Members of the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) team wait for a clear day to fly over the country at 40,000 feet to take pictures and radar imagery to map the second largest piece of ice on Earth.  It’s part of a groundbreaking study to closely monitor how the ice forms, moves, melts, and eventually falls into the ocean.  They are hoping to learn more about how the ice is affected by rising temperatures, how quickly it is or could melt, and what that would do to sea levels across the globe.  This could have long lasting effects that could change how countries around the world deal with sea level rise and potentially save billions of dollars and thousands of lives.  So while there is a very big reason for all of the pictures, it gives those of us not involved in the study a unique view of this dwindling landscape.