Crevasses play an integral part in the life cycle of glaciers, and as they grow they hold the potential to further accelerate ice-sheet loss.

By using a fiber-optic cable to detect tiny vibrations a mile below the surface, scientists discovered a surprising way that ice sheets move.

New 3D maps of the Greenland Ice Sheet show how huge cracks in the ice that accelerate melting expanded between 2016 and 2021.

Greenland’s Ice Sheet is cracking open at the seams, literally falling apart at speeds indicative of the brutal and accelerating impact of global climate change. In just five years, 930 million cubic meters of crevasses opened up in the Greenland ice sheet.

Crevasses are widening faster as meltwater drives fissures deeper into the ice and lubricates the base of glaciers, increasing concerns about how quickly their melting will raise sea levels.

Large-scale study finds crevasse sizes on Greenland ice sheet increasing in size and depth – and may cause more rapid loss of ice from region

The great ice streams of the Antarctic and Greenland are like frozen rivers, carrying ice from the massive inland ice sheets to the sea—and a change in their dynamics will contribute significantly to sea-level rise.

Observing Greenland from a helicopter, the main problem is one of comprehending scale. I have thought we were skimming low over the waves of a fjord, before noticing the tiny shadow of a seabird far below and realising what I suspected were floating shards of ice were in fact icebergs the size of office blocks.