Greenland leaves it mark ... by gimleteye

The global warming deniers and the Fox News politburo are scratching their heads, trying to figure out how to describe the current extreme heat across the nation as a "normal event". The melting of the Greenland ice sheet is not a normal event. It is extraordinary and Eye On Miami is there to bring you news.

By fast boat it is a two hour ride to one of the rapidly melting glaciers. The Eqi glacier is about 3 miles wide and six hundred feet high. It is calving very rapidly. This photo is taken about three miles from the glacier where forward motion was blocked by clogged ice from a calving event the day before.

This photo, from a plane flying over the Eqi glacier taken later in the day, provides some sense of the massive pressures at work, as the ice flows downhill and compresses. Notice how much dirt and grit is imbedded in the glacier surface. Increasing levels of soot and pollution from the atmosphere are accelerating the melt of the glacier.

There is a lot of surface melt, creating ponds and rivers on top of the ice sheet that find solution holes and combine to form rivers together underneath and at the bottom of the glacier, acting as a kind of lubricant. Many of the icebergs in the bay off Ilulissat show features of holes and tunnels caused by flowing water. This photo captures a river running out the bottom of the glacier through an arch way carved by the flowing water. A close-up view of the ice front shows the fracture lines where the glacier will break soon.

The question of sea level rise is not if, but when? The investment of taxpayer dollars in infrastructure like Miami-Dade's water and wastewater -- costing many billions of dollars -- must take into account the outcome of these forces of nature that are visible and at work now, in Greenland. We came here to show what it looks like, to help our readers understand that changes related to your property insurance are connected to what is happening here in Greenland.

We are in uncharted territory already when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change. Those in positions of power who have ignored -- and continue to ignore -- the threat of sea level rise will bear the heavy condemnation of history. That includes local elected politicians who continue to behave as though business as usual is the order of the day.