Satellite Captures Antarctic Ice Shelf's Collapse

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Linnea
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Satellite Captures Antarctic Ice Shelf's Collapse

Post by Linnea » 03-20-2002 09:18 PM

Any thoughts on the collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf? Quite a spectacular event. It is interesting to note that the ice shelf has survived for thousands of years through other cyclical climate change.

Here is an article from space.com -

An enormous floating ice shelf in Antarctica that has existed since the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago collapsed this month with staggering speed during one of the warmest summers on record there, scientists say.

Scientists stopped short of blaming the collapse on global warming caused by human activity. But they noted that the ice shelf had persisted through previous climate changes well before civilization began altering the environment.

``It's a profound event,'' said geologist Christina Hulbe of Portland State University. ``This ice shelf has endured many climate oscillations over many thousands of years. Now it's gone.''

Satellite images show that the piece of the Larsen Ice Shelf collapsed during a five-week period that ended March 7. It splintered into a plume of drifting icebergs.

The collapsed area was designated Larsen B, and was 650 feet thick and with a surface area of 1,250 square miles, or about the size of Rhode Island.

Larsen B is separate from a new, giant iceberg that satellites are tracking off Antarctica.

full article...

WoW!

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