Did the huge Greenland glacier break apart because of global warming? Maybe not.
Petermann glacier, a 70 km (43 mile) long tongue of ice that flows into the Arctic Ocean in northwest Greenland, recently calved an 鈥渋ce island鈥� approximately 130 square kilometers (50 sq. miles) 鈥� about twice the area of Manhattan.
The image above, acquired by NASA鈥檚 satellite, shows the ice island as it drifts toward the ocean five days after breaking off the main glacier.
And if you want an idea of what a slab of ice this large looks like up close, here鈥檚 a video taken by researchers on approach to a smaller chunk of the 2011 island:
Petermann glacier has been known for birthing massive ice islands; previously in an even larger island broke away from the glacier, measuring 251 square kilometers (97 sq. miles). That slab of ice eventually drifted into the northern Atlantic and was even visible from the Space Station a year later!
Although some of Greenland鈥檚 glaciers to be quickening their seaward pace as a result of global warming, this particular calving event 鈥� which occurred along a crack that appeared in 2001 satellite imagery 鈥� isn鈥檛 thought to be a direct result of climate but rather of ocean currents and isn鈥檛 expected to have any significant effect on the rate of Greenland鈥檚 ice loss as a whole. Still, satellite observation of such events provides valuable data for researchers monitoring the processes that are involved with
Jason Major is a graphic artist from听Rhode Island听now living and working in听Dallas, Texas. He writes about astronomy and space exploration on his blog听Lights In The Dark, on Universe Today and also on听Discovery听News.
This story originally appeared in听.
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