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.

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

The world’s second largest body of ice – the Greenland Ice Sheet – is cracking open quicker than previously, scientists have warned. Using 3-D maps of its surface, researchers have found crevasses have got significantly wider and deeper at the sheet’s fast-flowing edges 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.

The sheet is the second largest body of ice in the world with the news a worrying updated in the battle against global warming.

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 loss of ice on Greenland has been behind a sea level rise of around 14mm since 1992, scientists have said. If the entire Greenland Ice Sheet was to melt, sea levels could 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.