Pigmented algae are well adapted to grow on exposed ice in the Arctic as the snow line recedes, raising concerns of a feedback loop that could lead to faster sea level rise

The vast landmass is melting quickly due to climate change, and may rapidly cause the complete loss of the island's ice.

Greenland's ice sheet currently spans over 1.7 million square kilometers and is the largest freshwater reservoir in the northern hemisphere. The ice sheet has already lost over a trillion tonnes of its total mass since the 1980s,

The tiny ice inhabitants darken the glacier surface and can thus accelerate its melting.

The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is the single largest contributor of freshwater to global sea-level rise. Previous research has shown that algal blooms on the ice sheet’s western margin can enhance melt rates by 10 to 13%.

Glacier-covered landscapes in the high Arctic A new study published in Nature Communications reveals that dark-pigmented microalgae, which contribute

Glaciers are huge white ice masses that can reflect a lot of sunlight. However, especially where the glaciers are not covered in snow and the bare ice is exposed, they sometimes have dark patches. These are microscopic algae that grow on the ice and darken its surface.