An ice shelf larger than New York City has collapsed.
It is the first time in recorded history that the ice shelf in East Antarctica has collapsed.
In this part of Antarctica, which is attached to the highest, driest, coldest region, East Antarctica, we really did not anticipate seeing ice-shelf collapse.
The shelf broke apart last week as temperatures soared in the region. Catherine Walker is an ice scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
Complete collapse of East Antarctica's Conger Ice Shelf (~1200 sq. km) ~March 15, seen in combo of #Landsat and #MODIS imagery. Possible it hit its tipping point following the #Antarctic #AtmosphericRiver and heatwave too? #CongerIceShelf #Antarctica @helenafricker @icy_pete https://t.co/7dP5d6isvd pic.twitter.com/1wzmuOwdQn
— Catherine Colello Walker (@CapComCatWalk) March 24, 2022
That was a few days before the research station registered temperatures that were 70 degrees above average. A long column of water vapor, called an atmospheric river, carried heat from the tropics to the ice continent. A high-pressure system called a heat dome moved in and trapped heat and humidity in East Antarctic, according to The Washington Post.
Walker told the AP that the heatwave was the last straw on the camel's back.
She said that it was probably the result of a lot of long-time increased ocean warming there.
Humans add more heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere and the poles are warming faster than the rest of the planet.
The Guardian reported in February that the sea ice coverage in Antarctica was its lowest since records began.
There is NASA/AP.
The ice shelf's size was halved every month because of its rapid melt in 2020, according to the AP. The shelf used to be between two glaciers and warming ocean waters.
The collapse shows that areas that were thought to be unaffected by the climate crisis are not.
The Glenzer Conger ice shelf is not going to be there again, according to the AP.
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