An ice sheet measuring an area nearly double the size of Manhattan has detached from the Arctic’s largest remaining glacier, according to the Danish and Greenland Geological Survey.
The Spalte Glacier, recording at 113 km2 area, has detached from the Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier in what appears to be “progressive disintegration” of the ice sheet, according to scientists.
The ice shelf has lost 160 km2 since records began in 1999 with significant losses over the past two summers.
The atmosphere has warmed 3 degrees on average since 1980 and the region has experienced record-breaking warming these past two summers.
“We have seen a glacier that was normally locked in ice age conditions is starting to wake up and it’s of great concern because this particular ice shelf, the largest remaining in the Arctic, is connected to the largest drainage system of the Greenland ice sheet,” Prof. Jason Box, ice climatologist, told Euronews.
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