If the ice sheet covering Greenland was to melt completely — a process scientists believe could take several hundred years at the current rate — sea levels could rise by as much as 24 feet (about 7 meters).

And surface melt on Greenland’s ice sheet has been accelerating, spurred by soaring temperatures in the Arctic, which is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet.

In 2017, after two decades of decline, less summer thawing and heavy snowfall spurred by low pressure systems meant Greenland didn’t lose as much ice as in recent years.

But 2017 was an anomaly. Greenland’s overall ice loss has increased dramatically in the last two decades — from shedding an average of 34 gigatons (or 34 billion metric tons) per year between 1992 and 2001 to about 280 gigatons annually since 2002. Average annual ice loss In gigatons Source: NASA 1992-2001 2002-2016 34 280 That’s enough meltwater for every person on the planet to drink 107 liters of water ... ... every day of the year.

Much of the melt is occurring at several “hot spots,” where glaciers flow into the sea.

Helheim Glacier is the fastest flowing glacier along Greenland’s eastern edge. Scientists are studying it in hopes of improving projections of future sea level rise.