Huge Ice Shelf Breaks From Antarctica, Fractures

In the past 50 years, temperatures have risen by 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit), around six times the global average.

Ice shelves are ledges that float on the sea and are formed when ice is exuded from the coast by glaciers.

The process of shelf loss is marked by shrinkage and the breakaway of increasingly bigger chunks before the remainder of the shelf snaps away from the coast. It then disintegrates into debris or into icebergs that eventually melt as they drift northwards into warmer water.

ESA has set up a "Webcam from space" with automatic updates from Envisat as it flies over the Wilkins.

Related Links:

ESA's Webcam of Wilkins Ice Shelf

British Antarctic Survey (BAS)

Discovery Earth Pub