The Hindu : Front Page : Antarctic iceberg ‘set to collapse’

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Monday, Apr 06, 2009
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Antarctic iceberg ‘set to collapse’

LONDON: The massive Antarctic iceberg is “set to collapse” as the ice bridge which links the two islands on the peninsula has started melting dramatically.

“The Wilkins Ice Shelf is at risk of partly breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula as the ice bridge that connects it to Charcot and Latady islands looks set to collapse,” the European Space Agency (ESA) has said.

“The beginning of what appears to be the demise of the ice bridge,” the agency said in its release. “The melting began this week when new rifts forming along its centre axis resulted in a large block of ice breaking away,” it said referring to ESA’s satellite images acquired on April 2.

Scientists are currently investigating the reasons and processes of the recent ice shelf break-ups. For many, the situation is linked to the global warming during the past 50 years, during which the Antarctic temperature has increased by 2.5 degree Celsius — far more than the global average. In February last, 425 square kilometres of ice calved away, narrowing the ice bridge down to a 6-km strip. At the end of May, a 160-sq-km chunk of ice broke away and reduced the ice bridge to just 2.7 km. — PTI

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