The amount of ice flowing from the Antarctic glacier has doubled in the span of three decades, and scientists think it could undergo even more dramatic changes in the near future.
The Pine Island Glacier has been the focus of scientific attention for many years. Large numbers of deep crevasses are a sign that parts of the glacier are moving rapidly.
In a routine survey of Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier, NASA scientists discovered a large crack in the ice which will soon lead to the birth of a new giant iceberg.
A peek under the ice reveals a Grand Canyon-sized channel under the Jakobshavn glacier—one reason why the Greenland glacier contributes more to sea level rise than any other single feature in the Northern Hemisphere.
Where once two streams of ice merged in Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier, today there is division and a complex surface riddled with crevasses and melt ponds.