It had never rained at this point on the planet. What can happen from now on would be catastrophic

By Denise Chow - NBC News

Last Saturday it rained for several hours at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet, the first time in recorded history that it has occurred in that part of the planet, where temperatures rarely rise above zero.

Scientists confirmed on Wednesday the rainfall record at Summit Station, a research center located on the Greenland ice sheet, which is operated throughout the year by the

National Science Foundation

.

It was the first report of rain in the

It was the first report of rain at the frigid summit and also

marked the third time in less than a decade that temperatures above freezing were recorded

at the Arctic research station, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

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The exceptional rains caused a significant melting of the ice sheet at the summit and in the southeast part of the island over the weekend.

They also come just weeks after that region experienced extensive melting in late July, deepening concerns that climate change is causing the rapid thaw of the Arctic which in turn raises sea levels around the world.

On Saturday at 5:00 a.m. local time, temperatures were recorded above freezing at Summit Station, which is 10,551 feet (3,215 meters) above sea level.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center estimated that 7

billion tons of rain fell on the ice sheet over the course of three days.

The main building of the United States Research Station in Greenland;

on July 15, 2011.AP

"The warm conditions and the fact that the three-day event occurred at the end of the summer season led to a high level of melting and high volumes of seepage into the ocean," said researchers from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. it's a statement.

The rain and warmer-than-usual temperatures were caused by a low-pressure system that settled over Baffin Island and a high-pressure ridge over southeastern Greenland that pushed warm air and moisture from the south.

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The melting peaked Saturday,

affecting 337,000 square miles of ice

, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

By Monday, the area of ​​melting ice had returned to "moderate levels," according to the researchers.

Greenland's vast 656,000-square-mile ice sheet expands and contracts as part of natural annual variations, but global warming is causing glacial ice to melt at a rapid rate.

Some climate models suggest that, without aggressive climate interventions,

the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by 2050

.

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Aug. 16, 202100: 29

The consequences of that would be catastrophic.

If the Greenland ice sheet were to completely melt, scientists have said that global sea level could rise more than 20 feet (six meters), affecting coastal communities around the world and

submerging cities that are above sea level. sea ​​like Shanghai, Amsterdam and New York.

Last week, an intergovernmental panel of United Nations experts published a report on the phenomenon, warning that climate change is intensifying, occurring at an accelerating rate and is already affecting all regions of the planet.

The assessment also found that some changes that are already happening - such as warming oceans and rising sea levels - will be "irreversible for centuries or millennia."