The Day the Ice Fell: Frontline Encounters with a Melting World

When we first arrived at Lillehookbreen, one of the largest glaciers in Svalbard, the atmosphere was quiet, broken only by the gentle lapping of seawater against the hull of our Zodiac. As I began discussing with passengers how glaciers can give birth to icebergs via a process called calving, a loud crack broke the tranquillity of the Arctic air. The glacier groaned a section of ice fracturing and tilting forward in what seemed like slow motion. When the ice mass finally detached and plummeted into the sea below, a big wave surged outward towards us. The ice had transformed into a chaotic jumble of floating fragments. What I was describing had unfolded, in real time, before our eyes. There was no better learning opportunity.

Calving is the natural process by which glaciers lose mass, breaking off into icebergs that drift in the ocean and eventually melt. It occurs when the weight and movement of the glacier push ice beyond its stability, causing fractures. What we witnessed at Lillehookbreen was part of this age-old process—but in recent years, the rate and scale of calving events have increased dramatically. Warm air can accelerate the process when it causes melting, lubricating fractures in the ice. Meanwhile, warm water can weaken the glacier’s base by undercutting the ice. Due to climate change, warmer air and water make calving more frequent and dramatic. A warming climate means glaciers are not just shedding ice at their usual pace; they are retreating, thinning, and losing mass faster than they can replenish. The ice that calves away today is not merely part of a cyclical balance—it is part of an accelerating crisis. 

See the original video from Ulyana below.