In Greenland, where the island’s ice sheet is melting around six times faster than it was in the 1990s, billions of tons of ice are already disappearing each year. In Greenland, where the island’s ice sheet is melting around six times faster than it was in the 1990s, billions of tons of ice are already disappearing each year. Two new studies published in January focus on the role of algal blooms and their exacerbating effect on glacier and ice sheet melt in the Arctic. Processes like aerosol deposition and deglaciation cause nutrients to accumulate on the icy surfaces, feeding algae and causing algal blooms. These algal blooms form dark, brownish-gray spots on ice sheets and glaciers that reduce albedo, the property of a surface to reflect solar radiation.