130-kilometer crack threatens collapse of ice shelf in Antarctica
- 8 years ago
ANTARCTICA — The effects of global warming have reached even the coldest corners of the world, and now threaten to collapse Antarctica’s fourth-largest ice shelf.
According to the British Antarctic Survey, the Larsen C ice shelf sits on the northernmost part of the Antarctic peninsula and is slightly smaller than Scotland. Its entire area consists of a thick sheet of ice that extends from the ice caps on land and floats over deep ocean waters.
Warming temperatures have caused cracks to form across Larsen C, the progression of which has been continuously monitored by scientists. From 2011 to 2015, the crack grew 30 kilometers, and was 200 meters wide by 2015. Between March and August 2016, the rift grew another 22 kilometers and widened to 350 meters, according to Project Midas, a research collaboration funded by the British Antarctic Survey.
With the full length of the rift now at 130 kilometers, researchers predict a big chunk — about 10 percent of the ice shelf — will soon break off.
The partial loss of Larsen C will not itself raise sea levels. But ice being held back by the shelf may flow faster into the sea and contribute to its global rise, reports the Washington Post.
Scientists likewise fear that the loss of a huge chunk of ice will render the Larsen C ice shelf unstable and cause it to disintegrate, like Larsens A and B before it.
According to the British Antarctic Survey, the Larsen C ice shelf sits on the northernmost part of the Antarctic peninsula and is slightly smaller than Scotland. Its entire area consists of a thick sheet of ice that extends from the ice caps on land and floats over deep ocean waters.
Warming temperatures have caused cracks to form across Larsen C, the progression of which has been continuously monitored by scientists. From 2011 to 2015, the crack grew 30 kilometers, and was 200 meters wide by 2015. Between March and August 2016, the rift grew another 22 kilometers and widened to 350 meters, according to Project Midas, a research collaboration funded by the British Antarctic Survey.
With the full length of the rift now at 130 kilometers, researchers predict a big chunk — about 10 percent of the ice shelf — will soon break off.
The partial loss of Larsen C will not itself raise sea levels. But ice being held back by the shelf may flow faster into the sea and contribute to its global rise, reports the Washington Post.
Scientists likewise fear that the loss of a huge chunk of ice will render the Larsen C ice shelf unstable and cause it to disintegrate, like Larsens A and B before it.