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Massive ice island breaks off Greenland

(CNN) -- A piece of ice four times the size of Manhattan

island has broken away from an ice shelf in Greenland, according to

scientists in the U.S.

The 260 square-kilometer (100 square

miles) ice island separated from the Petermann Glacier in northern

Greenland early on Thursday, researchers based at the University of

Delaware said.

The ice island, which is about half the height of

the Empire State Building, is the biggest piece of ice to break away

from the Arctic icecap since 1962 and amounts to a quarter of the

Petermann 70-kilometer floating ice shelf, according to research leader

Andreas Muenchow.

"The freshwater stored in this ice island could

keep the Delaware or Hudson rivers flowing for more than two years. It

could also keep all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days,"

Muenchow said.

Muenchow's team is studying ice in the Nares

Strait separating Greenland from Canada, about 1,000 kilometers south of

the North Pole.

Satellite data from NASA's MODIS-Aqua satellite

revealed the initial rupture which was confirmed within hours by Trudy

Wohlleben of the Canadian Ice Service, according to the University of

Delaware website.

Muenchow said the island could block the Nares

Strait as it drifts south, or break into smaller islands and continue

towards the open waters of the Atlantic.

"In Nares Strait, the ice island will encounter real islands that are all much smaller in size," he said.

"The

newly born ice island may become land-fast, block the channel, or it

may break into smaller pieces as it is propelled south by the prevailing

ocean currents. From there, it will likely follow along the coasts of

Baffin Island and Labrador, to reach the Atlantic within the next two

years."

Environmentalists say ice melt is being caused by global

warming with Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reaching their warmest

level of any decade in at least 2,000 years, according to a study

published in 2009.

Current trends could see the Arctic Ocean become ice free in summer months within decades, researchers predict.