{"id":208014,"date":"2022-03-28T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=208014"},"modified":"2022-03-28T05:21:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T04:21:19","slug":"ice-shelf-bigger-than-new-york-city-breaks-off-eastern-antarctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/03\/ice-shelf-bigger-than-new-york-city-breaks-off-eastern-antarctica\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice Shelf Bigger than New York City Breaks Off Eastern Antarctica"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Conger Ice Shelf is the first to break off eastern Antarctica in four decades of satellite observations.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Scientists are concerned because an ice shelf the size of New York City collapsed in East Antarctica, an area that had long been thought to be stable. Last week\u2019s collapse was the first time scientists have ever seen an ice shelf collapse in this cold area of Antarctica.
(NASA\/AP)<\/p><\/div>\n

26 Mar 2022 – <\/em>An ice shelf larger than New York City has broken off eastern Antarctica, the first major shelf to collapse there in more than four decades of satellite observations.<\/p>\n

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The Conger Ice Shelf, spanning about 460 square miles, shattered off the continent on March 15. Its disintegration has alarmed scientists, who have long considered ice in eastern Antarctica as relatively stable and far less vulnerable to global warming compared to ice in western Antarctica.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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Ice shelves surrounding Antarctica protect ice sheets and glaciers on the continent. If the shelves give way, it creates a path for ice streams from surrounding glaciers to spill into the ocean and contribute to sea level rise. The ice shelves themselves do not directly lift the sea level because they\u2019re already floating on the ocean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s 70 degrees warmer than normal in eastern Antarctica. Scientists are flabbergasted.<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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In just the last month, sea ice levels surrounding the continent dropped to a record low<\/a> and temperatures on the interior of the eastern Antarctica shot up 70 degrees above normal, smashing records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re seeing these things sooner than we expected,\u201d said Peter Neff, assistant research professor at the University of Minnesota and an expert in glaciology.<\/p>\n

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Complete collapse of East Antarctica's Conger Ice Shelf (~1200 sq. km) ~March 15, seen in combo of #Landsat<\/a> and #MODIS<\/a> imagery. Possible it hit its tipping point following the #Antarctic<\/a> #AtmosphericRiver<\/a> and heatwave too? #CongerIceShelf<\/a> #Antarctica<\/a> @helenafricker<\/a> @icy_pete<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/7dP5d6isvd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/1wzmuOwdQn<\/a><\/p>\n

— Catherine Colello Walker (@CapComCatWalk) March 24, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n