Massive Greenland ice chunk begins to break apart

A huge chunk of ice that recently broke of from Greenland is reportedly now breaking into pieces. The Manhattan-sized piece of ice – dubbed PII-2012 by officials from Nasa –broke free from the edge of Greenland’s massive Peterman Glacier in July. The object has now drifted toward the sea to the edge of a fjord, and, according to Nasa, has split into several large chunks.

Satellite images from the US-based space agency revealed on 13 September that the pieces are now entering the Nares Strait between Greenland and the northeast coast of Canada, prompting concerns that floating ice could pose a hazard to passing ships.

Glaciers typically give way to icebergs amid a natural process referred to as calving, but scientists continue to express concerns regarding accelerated ice melt in Greenland over the past decade.

New York-based Geophysicist Marco Tedesco told the Wall Street Journal earlier in the month, “This year’s melting season is a Goliath. The ice is being lost at a very strong pace.”

Similarly, Dr Kim Holmen of the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) told BBC reporters, “It is a greater change than we could even imagine 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. And it has taken us by surprise and we must adjust our understanding of the system and we must adjust our science and we must adjust our feelings for the nature around us.”