Although the Antarctic Ice Sheet was previously thought not to be as affected by climate change as the Artic, scientists have now revealed that a glacier which bounds the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shows signs of collapse from inside out.
One of the largest bodies of ice in the Antarctica, the Pine Island Glacier is showing the first signs of wear caused by the increase in global temperatures. Back in 2015, a large part of the iceberg measuring 225 square miles, broke off from the glacier and started to drift away.
Now, while testing a new imaging software, researchers found that the large break off started around 20 miles inland instead at happening on the edge of the glacier, where normally the structure is the weakest. Scientists believe that this is evidence of deep rift beneath the surface caused by the warming of the ocean. Additionally, the speculate that it only lead to more often and greater breaks in the next years.
The leader of the research team and the main author of the study published this Monday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Ian Howat, has emphasized the unusual fact that the rift happened in the center of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and then propagated towards the edges. He speculates that the main cause of this phenomenon is the fact that a crevasse has been melted at the bedrock level of the glacier because of increased temperature of the ocean.
This study seems to strengthen the findings of other similar studies which suggested that the West Antarctica Ice Sheet could collapse in the next century. As Antarctica contains more than 50 percent of the world’s fresh water in the form of ice, its melting would mean a potential rise in sea level of up to 10 feet. Such a drastic increase from Antarctica alone could prove devastating for many coastal cities in the US and around the world.
Scientists have clearly stated that the melting of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet is now inevitable, the only question remains is when it will happen. Studying the early signs of the rift could help us better understand when a catastrophic breakdown of the ice sheet is likely to happen. Unfortunately, we would not be able to stop it in any way.
Image credit: NASA