 Jakobshavn Isbræ in west Greenland , a major outlet glacier of the Greenland Ice Sheet , has been the fastest moving glacier in the world over the past half century . It had been moving continuously at speeds of over 24 m ( 79 ft ) per day with a stable terminus since at least 1950 . In 2002 the 12 km ( 7 @.@ 5 mi ) long floating terminus of the glacier entered a phase of rapid retreat , with the ice front breaking up and the floating terminus disintegrating and accelerating to a retreat rate of over 30 m ( 98 ft ) per day . On a shorter timescale , portions of the main trunk of Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier that were flowing at 15 m ( 49 ft ) per day from 1988 to 2001 were measured to be flowing at 40 m ( 130 ft ) per day in the summer of 2005 . Not only has Kangerdlugssuaq retreated , it has also thinned by more than 100 m ( 330 ft ) . 
