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ICE SHELVES RECEDING AFTER GROWING FOR CENTURIES

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LARSEN ONE OF MANY DISINTEGRATING ICE SHELVES

The Larsen Ice Shelf is one of many ice shelves that have reversed a centuries old trend of growth. The Larsen Ice Shelf lost a 1200 square mile section early in 2002. Earlier in the 1990's other huge sections of this shelf disintegrated. In 2003 Argentine glaciologists reported that the land-based glaciers exposed by the removal of those sections had surged rapidly into the ocean. Although ice shelves are floating and do not add to sea level when they melt or break up, land based glaciers released by such events definitely will add to sea level.

The image below shows a mile-long ice cliff off Marr Ice Piedmont, Anvers Island. It has receded about 500 meters since the mid 1960s. The cliff's previous position was to the left of the line of ice floating in the harbor and extended to the headland at the extreme upper left. The regional temperature has increased 5° C in winter over the past 50 years. This reduces seasonal icepack, disrupts growth of krill and changes conditions on penguin rookeries.