Scientist 'speechless' at scale of ice melt on Greenland glacier [View All]

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Astonished scientist says he was 'completely unprepared for the gob-smacking scale of the breakup, which rendered me speechless'

New photographs taken of a vast glacier in northern Greenland have revealed the astonishing rate of its breakup, with one scientist saying he was rendered "speechless."

In August 2010, part of the Petermann Glacier about four times the size of Manhattan island broke off , prompting a hearing in Congress.

Researcher Alun Hubbard, of the Centre for Glaciology at Aberystwyth University, U.K., told msnbc.com by phone that another section, about twice the size of Manhattan, appeared close to breaking off.

In 2009, scientists installed GPS masts on the glacier to track its movement.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44353322/ns/us_news-environment/#.Tl-KeXPtjf8