A spooky “Halloween crack” looms beside an Antarctic iceberg shelf that is “hanging by a thread,” new satellite imagery reveals.
The crevice itself is secure, in response to the European House Company (ESA), however it’s the close by tip of Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf that causes concern because the southernmost continent continues to heat as a result of climate change.
Solely a slender thread of ice about one-third of a mile (600 meters) lengthy is holding the tip to the remainder of the shelf, new space observations present.
“If and when this potential rupture level lastly provides means, it’s anticipated to spawn an enormous iceberg about 1750 sq. kilometers [675 square miles],” ESA officers wrote (opens in new tab) Monday (Oct. 31), “which is over 5 occasions larger than the dimensions of Malta.” (Malta is about one-tenth the dimensions of Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state.)
In pictures: Giant crack frees a massive iceberg in Antarctica
The contemporary footage from the Sentinel-2 satellite mission, a part of Europe’s Copernicus Earth-observation program, could assist with forecasting the related sea rise on Earth if that precarious tip sloughs into the close by Weddell Sea.
It isn’t a lot the specter of a brand new iceberg that’s the problem, as ice cabinets float, ESA officers stated. However these cabinets do decelerate the circulate of land ice into the ocean.
“Owing to local weather change, Antarctica’s ice cabinets are weakening, resulting in larger dangers of extra land ice ending up within the oceans and thereby including to sea-level rise, one thing arguably extra horrifying than Halloween,” company officers wrote.
Moreover the spooky state of affairs, the rationale the “Halloween Crack” is so named is its discovery date: Oct. 31, 2016. It resides in a zone colorfully known as the McDonald Ice Rumples, referring to the place the underside of the ice shelf is hooked up to the seabed under. Because the shelf is grounded, that additionally slows down ice loss, ESA added.
The research of this iceberg is an element of a bigger set of satellite observations of Antarctica, which is kind of distant however nonetheless inside attain of satellites, which might observe “modifications in ice dynamics, air and ocean temperatures,” ESA acknowledged.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a e book about space medication. Observe her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
