Conservation International

But the data from three independent satellites this July, analyzed by NASA and university scientists, showed that in less than a week, the amount of thawed ice sheet surface skyrocketed from 40 percent to 97 percent.

In over 30 years of observations, satellites have never measured this amount of melting, which reaches nearly all of Greenland's surface ice cover.

Well over half of illegal ivory ends up in China, according to estimates presented at the meeting. China introduced a robust certification system to identify legally sold ivory in 2008, when it was allowed by Cites to receive ivory from a legal sell-off of stockpiles from four African countries. Since then, however, the regulatory system has broken down, with investigators finding illegal ivory on open sale even in remote parts of China

"We would like to see a total ban on ivory sales including domestic trade in China. As long as there is a legal trade, you have a way of laundering illegal ivory," said Mary Rice of the Environmental Investigation Agency which has studied the illegal ivory trade in China.

The study suggests that many of these species are important for medicine, water purification and provide numerous other services for humanity.