(Reuters) – An East Antarctica ice shelf disintegrated this month following a period of extreme heat in the region, according to scientists.
Satellite images show the 1,200 square-kilometre Conger Ice Shelf collapsed completely on or around March 15.
“Possible it hit its tipping point following the #Antarctic #AtmosphericRiver and heat wave too?” asked NASA Earth and Planetary Scientist Catherine Colello Walker on Twitter on Friday, sharing images of a white expanse crumbling into shards over the dark ocean.
Ice shelves, permanent floating sheets of ice attached to land, take thousands of years to form and act like levees holding back snow and ice that would otherwise flow into the ocean, causing seas to rise.
