The melting of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) in summer has rapidly and significantly increased in recent decades, especially for the northern GrIS. Circulation related to GrIS melting is important for understanding the contribution of the GrIS to the global sea level. In this paper, we used the SOM method to obtain three spatial patterns of GrIS melting based on model output data: overall melting, northern melting, and southern melting patterns. We also examined their linkages to the observed atmospheric circulation. GrIS melting is primarily related to Greenland blocking (GB), while different types of GB are responsible for different melting patterns. The overall and northern melting patterns are both associated with high-latitude GB, which is associated with the decay and westward movement of mid-latitude and high-latitude European blocking (EB), respectively. It is found that the generation of mid-latitude and high-latitude EBs are related to mid-latitude eastern North Atlantic warming and Greenland–Norskehavet–North Sea warming, respectively, while the movement of EB is related t upstream weakened zonal wind anomalies. Furthermore, the southern melting pattern is linked to mid-latitude GB, which is associated with the wave train from the East Pacific to Southern Greenland through North America and further related to the mid-latitude of East Pacific warming.

In our study, we aim to examine what factors lead to the summer heat waves over Eurasia and their variability. The analysis reveals that the summer heat waves over Eurasia show two kinds of spatial patterns: midlatitude and high latitude types. The mid-latitude heat wave mainly occurred over west Russia in the west of 55°E and in the south of 60°N, whereas the high-latitude type mainly occurred over west Russia in the east of 55°E and in the north of 55°N. We further analyzed the relationship of the two kinds of heat waves with atmospheric circulation patterns in the Atlantic-Eurasian sector and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the North Atlantic and Arctic. The results show that the cold or warm SST anomalies over Barents-Kara Seas (BKS) can significantly influence the latitude and longitude of Russian heat waves, while the heat waves are also related to the latitude of positive SST anomalies over North Atlantic.A mid-latitude wave train propagating into Eurasia and mid-latitude Russian heat waves, which are related to the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), are seen when there are strong SST warming in the North Atlantic mid-high latitudes south of 60°N and SST cooling over BKS. In contrast, a high-latitude Russian heat wave can occur over west Russia when there are positive SST anomalies over Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and Labrador Sea north of 60°N and BKS, while this high-latitude wave train is related to the decay of Greenland blocking or the negative NAO phase via high-latitude wave train propagation.