Greenland The melting Arctic will affect us down south too. Up on top of the Greenland ice cap, the ice is melting away. Here a stream of meltwater is vanishing down a small “moulin”—a vertical shaft down into the ice. They are dangerous places: one slip and you’ll never emerge from the ice cap’s underwater plumbing. The meltwater that vanishes under the ice is helping lubricate its slide towards the sea and speeding up its disappearance.