20% of Antarctica's Eagle Island's ice melts in 9 days

"A nine-day heat wave scorched Antarctica’s northern tip [in early 2020]. New NASA images reveal that nearly a quarter of an Antarctic island’s snow cover melted in that time – an increasingly common symptom of the climate crisis. The images show Eagle Island on the northeastern peninsula of the icy continent at the start and end of this month’s Antarctic heat wave. By the end of the nine-day heat event, much of the land beneath the island’s ice cap was exposed, and pools of meltwater opened up on its surface. Antarctica experienced its hottest day on record earlier this month, peaking at 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Los Angeles measured the same temperature that day . . . In just over a week, 4 inches of Eagle Island’s snowpack melted – that’s about 20% of the island’s total seasonal snow accumulation . . . melt events like this are quite rare for Antarctica, even during the summer. This heat wave was the result of sustained high temperatures . . . which almost never occurred on the continent until the 21st century. It’s the kind of weather event that grows increasingly common as global temperatures rise."