A new study has revealed that the Greenland ice sheet, the world's second-largest body of ice, is cracking at an unprecedented rate due to the ongoing climate crisis. Researchers found that crevasses—deep wedge-shaped cracks in the ice—have significantly expanded in size and depth over the past five years, accelerating much faster than previously recorded.

Using 8,000 three-dimensional surface maps from high-resolution satellite imagery, researchers analyzed the evolution of these cracks between 2016 and 2021. Their findings indicate a dramatic increase in the rate at which the ice is breaking apart.

“The biggest thing I was surprised about was how fast this was happening,” said Dr. Tom Chudley, an assistant geography professor at Durham University and the study’s lead author. “One previous study showed changes over the scale of decades … and now we’re showing this happening on scales of five years.”

Greenland has contributed approximately 14mm to global sea level rise since 1992. This is largely due to increased ice melt caused by rising atmospheric temperatures, as well as the enhanced flow of ice into the ocean due to warming waters.

“We are confident that crevasses opening are related to the speed-up of the ice sheet,” Chudley explained. “We’ve known for a number of years now that the ice sheet’s been accelerating quite significantly since 1990, and broadly we understand this to be related to ocean warming.”

Chudley emphasized the importance of improving sea level rise predictions, as many existing models struggle to account for dynamic instabilities in glacier movement.

“These are things related to the glacier moving and getting faster … dynamic instabilities are causing potentially up to a metre of sea level rise by 2100, and 10 metres of sea level rise by 2300,” he warned.

As the study highlights the urgent pace of ice loss in Greenland, researchers hope that high-resolution mapping techniques will contribute to more accurate climate models. Improved projections will be crucial for governments and communities to plan, mitigate, and adapt to rising sea levels over the coming centuries.

With climate change accelerating the disintegration of the Greenland ice sheet, the findings serve as yet another stark reminder of the urgent need for global action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect vulnerable coastal regions from future devastation.