Satellite data shows entire Conger ice shelf has collapsed in Antarctica

Satellite data shows that the ice shelf is about the size of Rome.

Scientists said on Friday that the Conger ice shelf collapsed around 15 March.

The temperature at Concordia station was a record of -11.8C on March 18th, more than 40C warmer than the seasonal average. The record temperatures were caused by an atmospheric river trapping heat.

Ice shelves are extensions of ice sheets that float over the ocean and are an important part of restraining inland ice. Sea level rise is caused by inland ice flowing into the ocean faster.

Dr Catherine Colello Walker, an earth and planetary scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said that the collapse of the Conger ice shelf is one of the most significant collapse events in the last decade.

It won't have huge effects, most likely, but it is a sign of what is to come.

Walker said that the Conger ice shelf had been decreasing since the mid-2000s. The ice shelf appeared to have lost more than half its surface area by the 4th of March.

A professor at the University of Minnesota, Peter Neff, said that he was surprised to see a small ice shelf collapse in east Antarctica.

He said that east Antarctica is treated like an ice cube.

This collapse, if tied to the extreme heat brought by the mid-March atmospheric river event, will drive additional research into these processes.

The ice shelf moved between 5 and 7 March, according to data from the satellite mission.

In March, there were three calving events, when ice chunks break off from the edge of a glacier. The Conger ice shelf collapse was one of the smaller events of the Totten glacier and Glenzer ice shelf.

We need to keep an eye on all the ice shelves in east Antarctica because they are restrained by the ice shelves.

The Conger ice shelf had a lot of melting from the ocean beneath, which could have caused it to collapse, according to Prof Andrew Mackintosh.

The large-scale collapse of an ice shelf is a very unusual event.

The collapse may have been caused by surface melting as a result of the extremely warm temperatures recorded in this region. There is more evidence needed to link this collapse to the recent warming.

The ice shelf collapse in 2002 was caused by surface melt.

Alex Sen Gupta, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales, said that the heat event began on 15 March.

The break-up of the Conger ice shelf won't have a big impact on sea level. The glacier behind the Conger ice shelf was small, so it would have a small impact on sea level in the future.

Climate warming will cause more ice shelves to break up. It will hold back a lot of ice, which will drive up global sea levels.

Scientists are concerned about the future of the Thwaites glacier, which is around 100 times larger than Larsen B and contains enough water to raise sea level.

The break of the Conger ice shelf reminds us that things can change quickly.