If the Greenland Ice Sheet were to melt completely, global sea levels could rise by as much as seven meters, with catastrophic coastal flooding and potential disruption to the Gulf Stream from increased freshwater input into the North Atlantic.

A radar image of northeastern Greenland’s coast uses data from three Sentinel-1 acquisitions in early 2026 to highlight surface changes with color overlays that reveal differences between scans.

ESA radar evidence from Copernicus Sentinel-1 shows rapid shrinking of Greenland’s Ice Sheet in the NEGIS region from January to March 2026, indicating thinning at the edges and overall mass loss.

Sentinel-1’s all-weather, day-and-night radar enables monitoring of fast-changing ice and runoff in these remote areas.

Space-based runoff measurements from Greenland help validate climate models and improve predictions of the ice sheet’s contribution to future sea level rise.

Three major outlet glaciers at the front of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream—Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden, Zachariae Isstrøm, and Storstrømmen—drain roughly 12–17% of the Greenland Ice Sheet into the North Atlantic.

The NEGIS's substantial annual discharge of 12–17% of Greenland’s ice underscores how regional changes can influence global ocean currents and climate.

The report emphasizes linking space-based observations to broader climate concerns, underscoring the global consequences of rapid ice melt and the need for orbital monitoring.

The accompanying image depicts stable ice in white, with grey tones indicating areas that have changed little, while coastal sea ice changes are highlighted along the water.

Since 1880, global sea levels have risen about 8 to 9 inches, driven mainly by ocean warming and glacier melt, with rising seas threatening coastal areas and increasing flood and erosion hazards.