Scientists announced Thursday that July equaled, if not surpassed, the hottest month in recorded history ⚠️ But that was not the only cause for concern. Greenland's ice sheet melted at its most rapid rate so far this summer summer on Thursday, losing 11 billion tons of surface ice to the ocean, according to data from the Polar Portal, a website run by Danish polar research institutions, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center. That's equivalent to 4.4 million Olympic swimming pools. "For those keeping track, this means the #Greenland #icesheet ends July with a net mass loss of 197 Gigatonnes since the 1st of the month," tweeted Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist with Danish Meteorological Institute – a number equivalent to around 80 million Olympic swimming pools. 😱 #science