Hundreds of miles of ice drop from Antarctic shelf
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
enlarge
New satellite images from the European Space Agency show massive amounts of ice are breaking away from a shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, researchers said today.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf had been stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the 1990s. Researchers believe it was held in place by an ice bridge linking Charcot Island to the Antarctic mainland.
But the 127-square-mile (330-square-kilometer) bridge lost two large chunks last year and then shattered completely on 5 April.
"As a consequence of the collapse, the rifts, which had already featured along the northern ice front, widened and new cracks formed as the ice adjusted," the European Space Agency said in a statement today on its Web site.
The first icebergs started to break away on Friday, and since then some 270 square miles (700 square kilometers) of ice have dropped into the sea, according to the satellite data.
"There is little doubt that these changes are the result of atmospheric warming," said David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey.
"The retreat of Wilkins Ice Shelf is the latest and the largest of its kind," he said, adding that "eight separate ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have shown signs of retreat over the last few decades."
The Wilkins shelf, which is the size of Jamaica, lost 14 percent of its mass last year, according to scientists who are looking at whether global warming is the cause of its breakup.
Average temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula have risen by 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 Celsius) over the past 50 years — higher than the average global rise, according to studies.
Over the next several weeks, scientists estimate the Wilkins shelf will lose some 1,300 square miles (3,370 square kilometers) — a piece larger than the state of Rhode Island, or two-thirds the size of Luxembourg.
One researcher said, however, that it was unclear how the situation would evolve.
"We are not sure if a new stable ice front will now form between Latady Island, Petrie Ice Rises and Dorsey Island," said Angelika Humbert of Germany's Muenster University Institute of Geophysics.
But even more ice could break off "if the connection to Latady Island is lost," she said, "though we have no indication that this will happen in the near future."
In the meantime, researchers said the quality and frequency of the ESA satellite images have allowed them to analyze the Wilkins shelf breakup far more effectively than any previous event.
"For the first time, I think, we can really begin to see the processes that have brought about the demise of the ice shelf," Vaughan said.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Reduce your global impact.
Comments
Was this ice floaring or land based?
What are the consequences of loss of ice, both here, in the Arctic, and from the receding snow lines on various mountains in the Northern hemisphere?
Is James Lovelock right in his claim that the Gulf Stream is failing?
Could the present economic crisis be beneficial to the human Race through a slowdown in our ever growing demand for energy?
It is of no consolation whatsoever that the area of ice lost, 330 square kilometers, is a mere 0.00002% of the total land mass of antarctica of 14 million square kilometres. Put another way, if the average human male weighs 80 kilos then the equivalent body 'loss' would be less than one tooth.
The Ice in Antarctica has expanded 100,000 square kilometres per decade since the 1970s, according to the same British Antarctic Survey.
Do you have little doubt that this is also the result of atmospheric warming, Mr Vaughan?
"It seems the hole in the O-Zone layer, created by CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals have given the South Pole respite from global warming. But only temporarily according to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)"
"In a new study, Turner and colleagues show how the ozone hole has changed weather patterns around Antarctica. These changes have drawn in warm air over the Antarctic Peninsula in West Antarctica and cooled the air above East Antarctica.
?Over the next 50 to 100 years, the ozone hole will heal, At the same time, greenhouse gases will rise. In next decade or so we should see sea ice plateauing and then decreasing massively if greenhouse gases continue to increase.? "
Meanwhile, taking the whole of Antarctica the ice area is more than 1 MILLION sq kms above its long term average. [ see "Cryosphere today"]
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
'In other news t was dark last night, film at eleven...'
Mean-while over the past 30 years the Antarctic sea ice and ice shelves have grown by 1.2 million square km. That is TWICE the size of France.