160 square mile collapse

 

Antarctic ice shelf collapse caught by satellite.

A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica is thought to be hanging onto the continent "by a narrow strip of ice between two islands," said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "If there is a little bit more retreat, this last 'ice buttress' could collapse and we'd likely lose about half the total ice shelf area in the next few years."

Satellite imagery from the NSIDC showed a piece of Wilkins Ice Shelf the scientists believe may break away due to rapid climate change in what they call a fast-warming region of the continent. Over the last 50 years, the western Antarctic Peninsula has experienced the biggest temperature increase on Earth, rising by 0.9 degree F per decade. "We believe the Wilkins has been in place for at least a few hundred years, but warm air and exposure to ocean waves are causing a breakup," said Scambos, who discovered the disintegration activity last month.

Iceberg disintegration

The data illustrated that a large iceberg, measuring 25.5 by 1.5 miles, fell away from the ice shelf's southwestern front, triggering a runaway disintegration of 220 square miles of the shelf interior. The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a broad sheet of permanent floating ice on the southwest Antarctic Peninsula roughly 1,000 miles south of South America.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) who flew over the shelf, collected video footage and other observations. BAS glaciologist David Vaughan said the Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on West Antarctica yet to be threatened. "This shelf is hanging by a thread," he said.

A narrow beam of intact ice about 3.7 miles wide was protecting the remaining shelf from further breakup as of March 23.

You’ve read it. Now review it.

Back to top

Back to top