Ocean Color Image Gallery

Greenland Loses Mass. Phytoplankton Bloom.

Excessive heat drove accelerated melting across Greenland during the summer of 2019. The above Aqua/MODIS composite shows melt ponds and grayish patches that indicate bare ice and wet snow along the southwest coast — results of the warming. Offshore, plumes of turquoise melt water flow into the Davis Strait and mingle with the blooming phytoplankton there.

The data comprising the above image were collected on August 29, 2019. Click on the image to get a larger version. You may also view a Landsat 8 image collected the same day that shows a higher resolution view of part of the region.