Sunrise over Inglefield Bay in the Northwest of Greenland. telegraph.co.uk

By Jonathan Harwood
January 14, 2011 Scientists have discovered more evidence of global warming after the sun rose two days early in Greenland, apparently because melting glaciers have lowered the horizon. The polar night usually ends on January 13, but this year residents of Ilulissat, the third largest settlement in Greenland, were surprised to see dawn arrive just before 1pm on January 11 after six weeks of perpetual darkness. Astronomers have ruled out the possibility of the early dawn being a result of a shift of the earth’s axis and Thomas Posch, of the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Vienna, says a change in the horizon is “by far the most obvious explanation”. According to to the National Climatic Data Centre in North Carolina, 2010 was the warmest year on record and a separate report from the World Meteorology Organisation found that temperatures in Greenland were 3C above average last year. … [UPDATE: See this arguably more balanced story from LiveScience: Strange Claim: The Sun Rose 2 Days Early in Greenland. h/t commenter Anonymous]

Sunrise arrives two days early in Greenland