Imagine a piece of ice about 50 kilometers long and 35 kilometers wide. Gigantic, right? To give you an idea, the size of this huge fragment is twice the size of Manhattan, one of New York's most populated districts, and, according to Fiona MacDonald of Science Alert, it is about to break out of Antarctica soon.

According to Fiona, NASA researchers found that there was a large fissure - lying in the Nansen ice sheet in Newfoundland bay - in satellite images captured in 2008. So late last year, space agency scientists went to the Antarctica to investigate and noted that the "crack" had increased significantly, and now it extends over almost the entire mantle.

Ice breaker

As the researchers explained, the fissure runs along the front of the ice shelf more or less parallel. In addition, they also believe that with fall / winter coming into the Southern Hemisphere in the coming months, there is a possibility that things will remain stable for some time to come.

In fact, ice shelf disruption is a very frequent phenomenon, and several factors - such as the action of ocean currents and tides - influence the process. However, although it is not always caused by global warming, it is noteworthy that several major disruptions that have occurred in recent years seem to be related to the rise in global temperature.

According to Fiona, the rate of loss on ice rigs has risen sharply over the past two decades, and during that period Larsen, for example, which is in the northwestern part of the Weddell Sea, has been reduced by 75% of its area. This fact is linked to climate change caused by global warming.

Consequences

The problem is that while the disruption of the ice shelf itself does not cause sea level rise, its presence contributes to slowing the loss of ice within the continent - and this melting can lead to rising sea levels. seas.

Crack in the ice shelf when it was detected

In addition, ice shedding produces icebergs that can not only pose a risk of collision with vessels, but also affect the fauna of the region. At the beginning of the year, for example, some 15, 000 penguins died when one of these ice mountains blocked their access to the sea and thereby cut off their food supply.

Crack in the ice shelf currently

According to Fiona, scientists are still trying to figure out what exactly causes these ice rigs to collapse, what happens after they break, and what can be done to stop and even prevent the process. Therefore, NASA personnel are taking the opportunity to collect as much data as possible to find out how the crack formed and what will happen after the platform comes loose.

Would you like to see an iceberg up close? Comment on the Mega Curious Forum