Journeying the south across the Arctic Ocean, the first land you/ reach is Greenland, the largest island in the world. Despite its name, Greenland is mostly white, covered by a giant ice sheet, six times the size of the United Kingdom.

 

In the middle of the island, the ice is nearly two miles thick. It's a bleak, quiet world. Sapphire-blue melt lakes are the first sign that a dynamic process is underway. Each lake forms in a matter of days, expanding until it's miles across and starts to overflow

 

The spill water then carves its way/ through the ice. The water crosses through an icy delta like blood along the arteries of a cold bloody monster, a monster that is stirring.

 

And without warning, the water suddenly plunges down an open shaft, falling a vertical mile into the heart of the ice sheet.

 

This melt water has a surprising effect. It lubricates the junction between the ice and the rock floor beneath, so the entire ice sheet is now on the move, sliding downhill into the ocean.