It's one-seventh the size of Antarctica, but because it protrudes into more temperate latitudes, it may be a better indicator of climate change than the larger landmass found in the south. Global ice cover acts as the planet's thermostat, regulating temperature by reflecting sunlight back into space. In this animation, we begin with a view of Greenland as it may have looked 100,000 years ago. A thick ice cap covers the outline of Greenland far beyond the actual boundaries of the landmass itself. Moving in closer, notice what happens as the climate begins to warm.
Glaciers surrounding the edge of Greenland begin to melt, adding billions of gallons to the oceans.
As the water rises and the ice recedes, warming continues around the planet, in part exacerbated by a growing paucity of ice to reflect warming sunlight back into space. Shown here, notice how the humid air above the place where the ice is melting causes the formation of clouds, which rise up onto the main portion of the land due to convection. There, at higher elevation, the moist air condenses and snow precipitates out, causing a slight rise in surface height in the interior. What we see as the camera ultimately pulls back is a Greenland that no longer has as thick or expansive ice cap. Notice how much of the ice perimeter is now inside the boundary of the landmass.