Massive iceberg nearly the size of Delaware breaks off Antarctica
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2017/07/12/massive-iceberg-breaks-off-antarctica/102637874/
Source: By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
For Investigation:
Excerpt: One of the largest icebergs ever recorded broke off from an ice shelf in Antarctica, British scientists announced Wednesday. The 1 trillion ton iceberg, with twice of the volume of Lake Erie, broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf between Monday and Wednesday, according to Project MIDAS, which has been monitoring the shelf. At 2,200 square miles, the chunk of floating ice is nearly the size of Delaware. ...The calving reduced the size of the ice shelf by some 12%. “We have been anticipating this event for months, and have been surprised how long it took for the rift to break through the final few kilometers (miles) of ice," [Adrian Luckman, a professor of Swansea University and the lead investigator of Project MIDAS] said. ...Project MIDAS said there is no evidence to directly link the calving of the iceberg to climate change. However, it is widely accepted that warming ocean and atmospheric temperatures have been a factor in earlier disintegrations of ice shelves elsewhere on the Antarctic Peninsula, most notably Larsen A in 1995 and Larsen B in 2002. Global warming has pushed temperatures up to 5 degrees higher in the region since the 1950s and could increase up to 7 degrees more by the end of the century, putting more stress on the ice, according to Climate Central. Regardless of whether climate change is a factor, calving is a natural part of the cycle of ice shelves. Ice flows gradually into the shelf, the shelf expands until stresses become too much, and then icebergs are formed. Whether or not Larsen C will reform is unclear. Scientists think there is a possibility the remaining shelf is now too fragile to grow back to its former size.... See also Six Points of Perspective on Larsen C’s Huge New Iceberg, by JoAnna Wendel and Mohi Kumar, Eos/AGU.
Source: By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
For Investigation:
Excerpt: One of the largest icebergs ever recorded broke off from an ice shelf in Antarctica, British scientists announced Wednesday. The 1 trillion ton iceberg, with twice of the volume of Lake Erie, broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf between Monday and Wednesday, according to Project MIDAS, which has been monitoring the shelf. At 2,200 square miles, the chunk of floating ice is nearly the size of Delaware. ...The calving reduced the size of the ice shelf by some 12%. “We have been anticipating this event for months, and have been surprised how long it took for the rift to break through the final few kilometers (miles) of ice," [Adrian Luckman, a professor of Swansea University and the lead investigator of Project MIDAS] said. ...Project MIDAS said there is no evidence to directly link the calving of the iceberg to climate change. However, it is widely accepted that warming ocean and atmospheric temperatures have been a factor in earlier disintegrations of ice shelves elsewhere on the Antarctic Peninsula, most notably Larsen A in 1995 and Larsen B in 2002. Global warming has pushed temperatures up to 5 degrees higher in the region since the 1950s and could increase up to 7 degrees more by the end of the century, putting more stress on the ice, according to Climate Central. Regardless of whether climate change is a factor, calving is a natural part of the cycle of ice shelves. Ice flows gradually into the shelf, the shelf expands until stresses become too much, and then icebergs are formed. Whether or not Larsen C will reform is unclear. Scientists think there is a possibility the remaining shelf is now too fragile to grow back to its former size.... See also Six Points of Perspective on Larsen C’s Huge New Iceberg, by JoAnna Wendel and Mohi Kumar, Eos/AGU.