Antarctica iceberg breaking off effects crack#

Drinkwater said there's little proof that this break in particular is caused by climate change, adding that ice shelves break off commonly. Others say it's a combination of factors, one of which includes global warming.ĭr. Some say it's the result of a natural phenomenon caused by increased pressure and stress on the Larsen C shelf, a process any healthy ice shelf endures. Scientists are divided about the impact of climate change on this particular break in Antarctica's ice shelf. 'What we've seen when Larsen B and A were removed, in the response of the glaciers, is that ice flows faster in those glaciers because you remove the resistance that the ice shelves offer,' he added. 'What we do need to do is continue to monitor Larsen C over time to watch if it evolves into something more unstable because, as of now, it's still in a stable condition. The ice shelf provides a safety belt,' Dr. 'You need an ice shelf to plug the glacier flow and provide some resistance to the glacier so that it doesn't flow freely into the ocean. If the ice shelf breaks at the crack, Larsen C will be at its smallest size ever recorded. When they collapse, the glaciers behind it can accelerate the flow of ice into the ocean. But some scientists fear that it could quicken the destabilization of the larger Larsen C ice shelf.įloating in water, ice shelves provide structural support to the glaciers that rest on land. The expected break-off, on its own, will not affect global sea level because the ice that has detached was already afloat in the ocean. 'This will almost pose a greater risk because they will be fragmented, which will be a bit harder to track this is going to be something in the navigation charts for years and years because it needs to be monitored very closely.' Shawn Marshall, a geography professor and Canada Research Chair in Climate Change at the University of Calgary. 'It might break up at some point into a whole bunch of little icebergs,' said Dr. If the iceberg manages to exit the Southern Ocean close to Antarctica and into the South Atlantic, it will reach warmer water and this will fragment the iceberg into smaller pieces, making it more difficult for scientists to track. The iceberg, scientists say, will pose a threat to commercial and cruise ships in the area. The enormous iceberg is poised to float off in the Weddell Sea, south of the tip of South America. He added Larsen C is still in stable condition, unlike its sister shelves, Larsen A and B, which both disintegrated due to a combination of factors. 'This is a normal event day in the life of an ice shelf, but what is capturing people's attention is just the size of this thing,' ESA scientist Dr. The rift is now around 200 kilometres long, leaving just five kilometres between the end of the fissure and the ocean, according to the ESA.

Antarctica iceberg breaking off effects crack#

In 2011, the crack was visible but not advancing rapidly, but since December of last year, it has grown the length of about five football fields each day. The rift has been around since at least the 1950s, when it was captured on satellite images gathered during the Cold War period. Once the crack completes its path, it will produce one of the largest icebergs ever recorded at a size of 6,600 sq. The ice shelf has an area of about 50,000 square kilometres, which is roughly the size of Nova Scotia. It has been tracking a rift on Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf since 2011 using satellites. The European Space Agency has been monitoring how ice is changing to improve understanding of the effects to the region and beyond. Over a period of millions of years, the growing pile of snowfall has resulted in an ice sheet that forms ice shelves. With annual average temperatures ranging from -5 C to -60, most of the snow that falls in the region piles up throughout the year. The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest single mass of ice on Earth. Scientists say that rising sea levels, which result in more flooding and could impact drinking water and wildlife habitats, are caused primarily by melting ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of sea water as it warms. Ice shelves, which float on water, are an important barrier that prevent land-based ice sheets and glaciers from melting into the ocean and adding to rising sea levels.