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 the biosphere as it portends the 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.
