The Greenland ice sheet underwent extensive surface melting from 1992 to 2002, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report released in 2004. Tinted areas in these satellite images show the extent of surface melting in 1992 and in 2002. The report warned that the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet and the melting of glaciers in Alaska and Canada are increasingly contributing to a rise in the world’s sea level.