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

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 realizing what I suspected were floating shards of ice were in fact icebergs the size of office blocks.

The world's second biggest body of ice - the Greenland Ice Sheet - is cracking open quicker than scientists had previously thought. That's according to new research by a team of scientists, led by Dr Tom Chudley, from Durham University's Geography Department.

The Greenland Ice Sheet is cracking open more rapidly as it responds to climate change. The warning comes in a new large-scale study of crevasses on the world's second largest body of ice.

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.

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.

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.