New York Times, Aug. 9, 8:30 a.m. | Updated An enormous iceberg, about four times the size of Manhattan, broke away from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier on Aug. 5.
Greenland has for years been shedding ice faster than the rate at which accumulating snow adds to the overall bulk of its ice sheet. The calving of an enormous ice “island” from the Petermann Glacier several days ago created a photogenic “moment” in a long-term process.
Jason E. Box, a glacier and climate researcher at Ohio State University who forwarded the image above (it was generated by the Canadian Ice Center), sent these reactions before heading into the field:
Petermann is a sleeping giant that is slowly awakening. Removing flow resistance leads to flow acceleration…. The coincidence of this area loss and a 30 square kilometer loss in 2008 with abnormal warmth this year, the setting of increasing sea surface temperatures and sea ice decline are all part of a climate warming pattern.
What effect this event will have on coastal water levels is not yet known. BBC News has this graphic showing Petermann's relative size:
