Cryosphere Journal Entry
Cryosphere Journal Entry
Huge Iceberg Breaks Away (March 22, 2010)
Satellite view of huge iceberg that broke off the eastern coast of Antarctica. Photo by N. Young, Australian Antarctic Division.
Satellite pictures show a massive iceberg covering an area of 1,000 square miles (2,500 square kilometers), or roughly the size of Rhode Island, broke off eastern Antarctica. The huge chunk of ice broke free after another big iceberg rammed into the Mertz Glacier. A new iceberg calved along a crack in the glacier that had steadily widened in recent years. The iceberg was set adrift in the Southern Ocean, where it could affect a penguin colony and marine organisms. Because of its size, it could also impact the region's complex ocean circulation.
The break-up of Mertz Glacier is yet another sign of global climate change. Until recently, most of the effects have been felt on the warmer, western side of Antarctica. What's alarming is changes are now affecting the cooler, eastern side of the continent as well.
Rising temperatures melt away about 24 cubic miles (100 cubic kilometers) of ice every year in Antarctica. The melted ice contributes to rising global sea level. If all of the ice covering West Antarctica melted away, computer models predict sea level would rise as much as 20 feet (6 meters), swamping coasts worldwide. Millions of people would be forced to move inland. If all of Antarctica's ice vanished, sea level could jump a mind-boggling 190 feet (57 m).
