by Stacy Feldman -
Dec 1st, 2008 ![European Space Agency: Antarctica’s Wilkins Ice Shelf "Under Threat" from Warming](http://solveclimate.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/205x205/sites/default/files/antarcticawilkinsiceshelf.jpg "European Space Agency: Antarctica’s Wilkins Ice Shelf "Under Threat" from Warming")
Scientists closely monitoring the Antarctica Peninsula have just reported new rifts on the Wilkins Ice Shelf that make it dangerously close to breaking away from the continent entirely -- and becoming a free-floating iceberg the size of Connecticut.
The rate of the melt is alarming -- some 15 years ahead of scientific projections.
The researchers, who are from the European Space Agency (ESA), reported the implications on the agency's website:
If the ice shelf breaks away from the peninsula, it will not cause a rise in sea level since it is already floating. However, ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula are sandwiched by extraordinarily raising surface air temperatures and a warming ocean, making them important indicators for on-going climate change.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
