According to CNN, satellite observations show that in mid-March, the Antarctic Conger Ice Shelf, which covers an area of about 1,200 square kilometers, is about the size of the city of Los Angeles. It is reported that the disintegration of this ice shelf is related to the recent high temperature in Antarctica, the melting of sea ice has reached record levels, and the impact of the ice shelf on the impact of waves. Scientists say the collapse of the ice shelf could predict unpredictable harm to Antarctica in the future.
A cloud image of an Antarctic iceberg satellite taken in space on March 17, 2022.
Recently, a number of meteorologists have observed extreme high temperatures in the north and south polar regions, and the temperature in some areas exceeds the average of 30 or 40 degrees Celsius in the same period of previous years. Under normal circumstances, the temperature in Antarctica will gradually drop as the southern hemisphere turns from summer to autumn. The Concordia Antarctic Research Station, jointly built by France and Italy, measured temperatures of minus 11.5 degrees Celsius on the 18th of this month, a record high. This figure is about 40 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the same period in previous years.
In February 2022, nasa provided satellite imagery showing the Conger (Bowman Island) ice shelf and associated rapid ice pre-collapse.
Rob Rattle, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Mission, said warming increased the likelihood of ice shelf disintegration. There have been a series of ice shelf disintegrations in antarctica over the past 40 years, but mainly in the warmer west. "Since we were able to receive satellite data, there has not been such an ice shelf collapse in the eastern Antarctic region." Although the Conker Ice Shelf is as large as a metropolis, it is a "tiny" ice shelf that has shrunk over the years until it finally disintegrates. In addition, glaciologist Ted Skanbos, chief scientist and chief scientist of the National Ice and Snow Data Research Center, said that the reason for the collapse of the Conger Ice Shelf is that the recent high temperature, the sea ice melting has reached record levels, and the ice shelf has been affected by the impact of the waves.
February 7, 2022, Antarctica, Antarctica, due to global climate change, the Glacier of the Penora Strait in Antarctica is melting.
Ice floes in the Peñora Strait in Antarctica, February 7, 2022.
On February 16, 2022, glaciers on Horseshoe Island in Antarctica melted due to global climate change.
Researchers at the University of Maine say that based on weather models established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Antarctic continent as a whole was about 4.8 degrees Celsius higher overall this month compared to the average for the same period from 1979 to 2000. Globally, the average temperature from 1979 to 2000 was about 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th-century average. Meanwhile, according to the National Ice and Snow Data Research Center, Antarctica's sea ice area fell to about 1.9 million square kilometers in late February, the first time since 1979 that it has fallen below the 2 million square kilometer mark.
An iceberg at sea photographed in the Weddell Sea on the edge of the Antarctic continent on February 1, 2020.
The current hot weather in Antarctica may also be just by chance. However, once a similar situation occurs again or repeatedly, it can be worrying.
Source: Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News, Visual China