Greenland's Petermann Glacier Loses 76 Square Kilometers of Ice

Satellite imagery has documented the largest calving event at the Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland in over a decade. In August 2026, the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite recorded the loss of a floating ice tongue section covering approximately 76 square kilometers. This event marks the most significant ice loss for this specific glacier since 2012 and the largest calving event observed across the Arctic since 2020. Prior to the break, the ice tongue measured roughly 70 kilometers in length and up to 15 kilometers in width. Monitoring Method and Data The observation was conducted using the Sentinel-1 radar, which operates in the C-band. This technology allows the sensor to penetrate cloud cover and operate during the polar night, ensuring consistent surface imaging regardless of weather or lighting conditions.