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Environment & Climate

Greenland's Petermann Glacier sheds Manhattan-sized ice island

A 76-square-kilometer ice mass detached from Greenland on August 4, marking the glacier's largest calving event since 2012.

Updated Aug 25, 2026 · 13:49 UTC1 reports

The short version

  • A 76-square-kilometer tabular iceberg detached from Greenland's Petermann Glacier on August 4, 2026, creating an ice island roughly the size of Manhattan.
  • The event marks Petermann Glacier's largest floating ice loss since 2012 and the largest calving event recorded in the Arctic since 2020.
  • Scientists warn that two additional ice islands, measuring an estimated 97 and 87 square kilometers, could eventually detach as existing cracks expand.
  • Environment and Climate Change Canada is tracking the iceberg to assess potential hazards to maritime shipping routes and offshore infrastructure.

Key facts

  • A 76-square-kilometer section of Petermann Glacier's floating ice tongue separated on August 4, 2026, forming an ice island that may be up to 150 meters thick.[ScienceDaily]
  • The separation represents Petermann Glacier's largest ice loss since 2012 and the biggest Arctic calving event recorded since 2020.[ScienceDaily]
  • European Space Agency Sentinel-1 satellite radar imagery captured expanding fractures on August 3 immediately prior to the detachment.[ScienceDaily]
  • An international research team including the University of Ottawa, the Universities of Stirling, Lancaster, and Leeds, and the Canadian Ice Service has monitored the glacier's stability since 2019.[ScienceDaily]
  • Environment and Climate Change Canada is monitoring the iceberg's drift to evaluate hazards to Arctic shipping lanes and infrastructure.[ScienceDaily]

What remains uncertain

  • The exact trajectory, rate of fragmentation, and lifespan of the newly formed ice island remain to be seen as it drifts through Arctic waters.[ScienceDaily]
  • It is uncertain whether or when two other unstable sections of the ice tongue, estimated at 97 and 87 square kilometers, will detach.[ScienceDaily]

Sources