British Survey shows Video of the Collapsing Ice Shelf
Large cracks in the Wilkins Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Photo courtesy of the BAS.
I realize most of you are already aware (mainstream media) about the collapsing Wilkins Ice Shelf down in Antarctica, but I thought the link to the video was pretty cool. According to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), a large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic peninsula is now supported only by a thin strip of ice hanging between two islands. According to the BAS press release, it appears that the ice shelf is ready to to break out from the Antarctic Peninsula.
Over the past week, satellite images of the ice shelf spotted a huge 25 x 1.5 mile berg (close to the size of Manhattan) that had recently broken away and was still moving. The BAS sent a Twin Otter aircraft out on recon to check the breakout....Here is a link to a portion of that video taken by Jim Elliot of the BAS.
"I've never seen anything like this before, it was awesome, said Elliot. We flew along the main crack and observed the sheer scale of movement from the breakage. Big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble, it's like an explosion."
Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado says, "We believe the Wilkins has been in place for at least a few hundred years. But warm air and exposure to ocean waves are causing a break-up."
