By GREG OLMSTED

Greenland, the world’s largest island, supports “one of the biggest and fastest-melting chunks of ice on earth,” according to an article in the New York Times.  And it’s quickly melting away.  The ice melts and forms lakes.  The lakes feed rivers.  The rivers flow into moulins or giant holes in the ice.  And the sea level rises.  Watch Josh Haner, a Pulitzer Prize winner in feature photography, drone along a beautiful, fast flowing river that vanishes into a moulin. 

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Drone update:  In my earlier blog (Breakfast with weather researchers and drones, October 17), I reported on the difference between hobby and commercial drones.  Since then, Anthony Fox, U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced that the Department of Transportation will be “Having a national registry of folks who are owners of drones and users of drones.”  Drone owners and users be advised: According to Mr. Fox, the Federal Drone Registry will include retro-active registration, too.  In fact, the control of drones is being fast-tracked: a task force will make recommendations before Thanksgiving and the federal government will require registration before Christmas sales of drones.  This is a major undertaking.  Both Amazon Prime Air and Google X’s drone delivery programs/businesses are task force members, along with Best Buy and Walmart.  But who is representing journalists and videographers?  In addition to the registration requirement, the FAA is working with CACI to develop a program that will track use of drones near airports and identify their owners.