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Wilkins Ice Shelf collapses
By: thinkSPAIN , Tuesday, February 17, 2009


A 14,000 square km shelf of ice, almost twice the area of the Basque Country, has broken off the Wilkins Ice Shelf in the Antarctic. Scientists believe the ice shelf is crumbling as a result of global warming.

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has reported today that the resulting giant icebergs are now floating around in the Antarctic Ocean.

A team of CSIC scientists have been in the area investigating the impact of the crumbling ice shelf on the ecosystem in the Belinghausen Sea, to the west of the Antarctic peninsula.

Over the past two weeks, the scientists have seen the ice shelf on the edge of the Belinghausen Sea recede 550km and have noted that the water temperatures are extraordinarily warm in this area.

Experts have warned that the breaking away of this massive ice shelf will ultimately have notable consequences on the sea level.

CSIC scientist, Jordi Dachs, reported that his team had found 'a very high level of biological production' in the areas where the fragments of ice have gone and that there is 'abundant fauna, with the largest concentration of humpback whales and leopard seals' they have seen up until now.

'We have also found very low levels of CO2 in the sea water' he continued, 'suggesting that the increase in sunlight getting through and the elements released by the breaking ice fertilise the water'.

Pedro Luis de la Puente, captain of the BIO Hespérides the scientists are working from, underlined the dangers of navigating in these areas, which have 'never had a full topographical survey as they have been covered in ice up until now'. The water is thought to be between 150 and 300 metres deep and the scientists are encountering icebergs that have run aground, suggesting that they could be approximately 200 metres thick.

In the past 50 years, Antarctica has seen the greatest temperature increase across the whole planet: 0.5 degrees centigrade per decade, and the area is seeing a dramatic loss of ice, much greater even than scientists had anticipated.