Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat 2001-2003: Jakobshavn Isbrae holds the record as Greenland's fastest moving glacier and major contributor to the mass balance of the continental ice sheet. Starting in late 2000, following a period of slowing down in the mid-1990s, the glacier showed significant acceleration and nearly doubled its discharge of ice. The following imagery from the Landsat satellite shows the retreat of Jakobshavn's calving front from 2001 to 2003. (An update of the glacier's retreat through 2006 has been added.)

As more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it raises sea levels. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea-level rise by about .06 millimeters (.002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea-level increase.