Scientists: Antarctic ice shelf collapsing as result of climate change

Source: Xinhua | 03-26-2008 09:23

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Imagery took by U.S. satellites shows a portion of Antarctica's massive Wilkins Ice Shelf has begun to collapse because of rapid climate change in a fast-warming region of the continent, scientists at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center announced on Tuesday.

A large floating ice mass is seen in the gateway of the Antarctic Peninsula March 9, 2008. On the Antarctic  Peninsula, which stretches out from Antarctica toward  the South Atlantic Ocean, some of the huge ice shelves that line its coasts have now disintegrated and are  floating in chunks in the ocean. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

While the area of collapse involves 160 square miles at present, a large part of the 5,000-square-mile Wilkins Ice Shelf is now supported only by a narrow strip of ice between two islands, said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at NSIDC.

"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," he added.

In the past 50 years, the western Antarctic Peninsula has experienced the biggest temperature increase on Earth, rising by 0.9 degree F (0.5 Celsius degree) 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 first spotted the disintegration activity in March.

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.