A 76-square-kilometer ice island has broken away from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier, marking the largest ice-loss event recorded in the Arctic since 2020.
An ice island covering 76 square kilometers, roughly the size of Manhattan, has broken away from the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland. The ice mass is up to 150 meters thick.
The break-off occurred on August 4 and represents the largest calving event recorded in the Arctic since 2020, as well as Petermann’s largest loss of floating ice since 2012. The fracture was captured by radar aboard the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission.
Satellite imagery showed rapid deterioration along the glacier’s floating ice tongue beginning on August 3, culminating in the complete break-off the following day. An international research team from the universities of Ottawa, Stirling, Lancaster and Leeds, together with the Canadian Ice Service, monitored the event in near real time as part of the European Space Agency-funded ARCTEX project.
“We had predicted this break-off for years. Seeing it happen is a powerful reminder of how quickly these systems can change,” said Adam Garbo of the University of Ottawa.
Researchers warn that the Petermann ice tongue remains unstable. The continued widening of other surface fractures could soon lead to the detachment of two additional large ice masses, measuring approximately 97 and 87 square kilometers.
A history of major break-offs
The latest event is not the first major break-off at Petermann. Large ice islands were produced in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Since then, however, the glacier’s floating ice tongue has remained relatively stable, apart from several smaller events.
“By studying Arctic ice islands, we will gain knowledge that can be transferred to other polar regions,” said Anna Crawford of the University of Stirling. “This is essential for understanding how the break-up and deterioration of ice islands affect glacier dynamics, sea-level rise and the ocean environment.”
Researchers say the latest changes at Petermann occurred exceptionally quickly. Molly Hammond, a doctoral researcher at the University of Leeds who processed the Sentinel-1 data, said monitoring the propagation of the cracks through near-real-time interferometry demonstrated the value of repeated synthetic-aperture radar observations.
The event also provides an important indicator of how ice sheets are responding to a warming climate. Scientists use such changes to improve projections of future sea-level rise.
Meanwhile, Canada’s weather service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, has begun tracking the ice island’s trajectory to assess potential risks to shipping routes and offshore infrastructure.
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