Barnes Ice Cap Loses Snow by Mid-July, Earliest Bare State on 5,700-Sq-Km Ice Mass
Updated
Updated · Science@NASA · Aug 3
Barnes Ice Cap Loses Snow by Mid-July, Earliest Bare State on 5,700-Sq-Km Ice Mass
2 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · Aug 3
Summary
Mid-July 2026 left the Barnes Ice Cap effectively snow-free, marking the earliest point glaciologists have seen it this bare.
An already-thin snowpack at the start of the melt season sped the transition from snow-covered surface to mostly exposed ice within a few weeks.
Landsat imagery and field observations tracked the rapid change on the Baffin Island ice cap, where bare ice, melt ponds and meltwater channels emerged unusually early.
The 5,700-square-kilometer remnant of the Laurentide Ice Sheet is already thinning and retreating, making the early snow loss another sign of sustained change across the Canadian Arctic.