Manhattan-Sized Ice Island Breaks Off Greenland's Petermann Glacier
A Manhattan-sized ice island, up to 150 meters thick, broke away from Greenland's Petermann Glacier on August 4, the glacier's biggest loss since 2012. Scientists expect two more sections to follow, which would remove about 22 percent of the remaining ice tongue and create new drift hazards for Arctic shipping.
On August 4, 2026, a 76-square-kilometer ice island up to 150 meters thick broke away from Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland, the glacier's largest loss since 2012 and the biggest Arctic calving event in years, according to researchers from the University of Ottawa, the University of Stirling, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Scientists tracking the glacier's fractures since 2019 expect two more sections, projected at 94 and 84 square kilometers, to break away soon, which would remove about 22 percent of the remaining ice tongue. The ice island is now being tracked as it drifts and gradually fragments, posing a potential hazard to Arctic shipping routes and offshore infrastructure. Researchers note that one calving event alone does not prove accelerating sea level rise, but say it offers a rare chance to study how Arctic ice islands, more common around Antarctica than the Arctic, break apart over time.