Looking at the European Space Agency, CryoSat information and was struck by the visual impact of the loss of the Larsen ice shelves from West Antarctica. This illustration from 1986 shows the mountains on the West coast of the peninsular and the ice shelves on the east coast.
This is the same region today after Larsen 'A' has disintegrated and the major part of Larsen 'B' has disintegrated.
The latest developments are that the remaining remnants of Larsen B is about to collapse and Larsen 'C' has a very large crack in it that, when it breaks, will remove a huge area of ice.
Observation from the CryoSat satellite shows that the ice shelf is losing mass and other research shows that they are being melted by warm water rising from below due to increased wind strengths in the Southern Ocean. This thinning will lead to further collapse. Larsen 'C' is much larger than 'A' and 'B' and so will contribute more to sea level rise as, with the shelf gone, the land based glaciers slips to the sea eight to ten times faster.
The peninsular is not alone as the massive Pine Island glacier is thinning and also the Totton glacier.
The IPCC 5th report specifically excluded this type of ice shelf collapse because it was unpredictable and also research was limited because of access.
We now have five years of CryoSat data and this shows a massive thinning of the peninsular ice shelves so we must keep a close watch on developments.
The peninsular is not alone as the massive Pine Island glacier is thinning and also the Totton glacier.
The IPCC 5th report specifically excluded this type of ice shelf collapse because it was unpredictable and also research was limited because of access.
We now have five years of CryoSat data and this shows a massive thinning of the peninsular ice shelves so we must keep a close watch on developments.
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