Scientists find strange and worrying crack on Petermann Glacier that could lead to dramatic break up

Those who pay attention know the precarious position we find ourselves in due to climate change caused by the emissions from our relentless burning of fossil fuels.  The Washington Post has just published news that scientists have discovered an unexpected crack at Petermann glacier, which is located in the high arctic of Greenland.  This is gut wrenching news for entire the biosphere as it portends a dramatic breakup of a glacier that holds 1 foot of sea level rise.

Since the drama of 2010 and 2012, another large crack has begun to open and stretch towards the center of Petermann’s ice shelf — which suggests the shelf could lose another large “ice island” soon. That’s bad enough, but this week Stef Lhermitte, a researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who studies Greenland using satellites, posted images suggesting the development of a second and different sort of crack, one that could potentially link up with the first one.

This crack, oddly, appeared to have formed in the middle of the ice shelf, rather than on its side where cracks usually begin. But given its location, it could potentially connect with the pre-existing crack if it continues to grow, extending it across much of the shelf. Here’s one animation that Lhermitte shared on twitter.

.@Petermann_Ice@AndreasMuenchow@glacier_doc@CopernicusEU@ESA_EO The internal crack growth is clearly visible in this Sentinel-1 time series, also during polar night. 3/5 pic.twitter.com/AKY2czWFtR

Eric Rignot a highly regarded glacier scientist from the NASA and University of California-Irvine commented on the finding:

The ice shelf is slowly but surely falling apart. It has been stable from 1901 till the 2000s, then started to break up, especially in 2010-2012. We have seen the glacier speed up for the first time around 2014-2015. Whether this new crack is significant or not is hard to tell as of now. It is unusual to see cracks forming from the center, they usually start from the sides. This could indicate that the ice shelf has gotten too thin in the middle.

Jason Box, a highly regarded Greenland ice scientist from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland commented on the finding and noted the iceberg generated by a breakup could be 50 to 75 square miles. 

“Amazing to see a new crack forming and in a location well upstream of the present day calving front,” said Box, calling it a “prelude to further retreat.”

But Box also added that “It will probably be several years before we see action like in 2010 and 2012.” He also sent data suggesting that Petermann has lost over 100 square miles of ice and over ten miles of length since those events.

Folks, this canyon will funnel meltwater to the fjord of Petermann Glacier.

I don’t have a whole lot to add, I am too sad to go much further as I don’t think that my heart can take it. I have had tears in my eyes since I read the Post’s story. The week of action on climate change will be even more poignant then ever. Resist!