The National Snow and Ice Data Center today launched a Web site that offers the latest satellite data and periodic scientific analysis on surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a significant climate indicator watched by climate scientists worldwide. The site presents images of the widespread melt on Greenland during 2012 and scientific commentary on the year’s record-breaking melt extent.

In recent years, the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet has experienced strong melting, but the 2012 melt season far exceeded all previous years of satellite monitoring, and led to significant amounts of ice loss for the year.

The Greenland Ice Sheet contains a massive amount of fresh water, which if added to the ocean could raise sea levels enough to flood many coastal areas where people live around the world. The ice sheet normally gains snow during winter and melts some during the summer, but in recent decades its mass has been dwindling due to strong melting.

http://nsidc.org/news/press/20130129_greenlandicesheettoday.html

This is particularly significant because it refers to continental ice, not sea ice. Extreme changes in sea ice coverage has profound climatological consequences, but does nothing to increase global flooding. Floating sea ice displaces exactly the same amount of liquid it removes by freezing, so melting of the boreal ice pack does not affect sea level.