Antarctic ice shelf the size of Rome has collapsed

The ice shelf that has now vanished has been shrinking for more than 15 years, but according to NASA scientist Colillo Walker, this only happened gradually until early 2020. However, at the beginning of March, it turned out that compared to measurements made in January, only Half of the ice shelf.

Arctic explorer Peter Neff In a video on Twitter and TikTokLike Colello Walker, the joking Conger would have few direct consequences, due to the ice shelf’s relatively small size. He says scientists are particularly surprised by the site of the collapse: East Antarctica. According to him, that region, which, among other things, is considered the coldest in the world, which is often considered a huge “ice mass”, is usually quite stable.

40 degrees warmer than usual

It is exceptionally warm in Antarctica this month, as it is in the Arctic. In some parts of Antarctica, it is 40 degrees warmer than usual at this time of year. The cause of rising Antarctic temperatures is a series of low pressure regions, which allow warm air to flow over much of Antarctica. As a result, a relatively large amount of ice melts. It’s not certain that this month’s separate ice shelf is also the result of higher temperatures.

Scientists are not yet completely sure that the unusually high temperatures are caused by climate change: it is easier to determine if there has been repeated warming at the poles and therefore a trend. “But this would not have happened without climate change,” NOS meteorologist Gerrit Hemstra said earlier of the warming in the polar regions.