The shattering of the Larsen C shelf glacier is steadily increasing. Therefore, the European Space Agency believes that soon a large iceberg will soon recover from it, as previously anticipated.
According to the European Space Agency, Antarctica will soon be one of the largest registered icebergs, with an area of almost 6,500 square kilometers. Its emergence may accelerate the break-up of further ice fragments, which could lead to the destruction of the barrier preventing ice from entering the sea.
This iceberg is about to break away from one of the largest continental shelf glaciers - Larsen C. Researchers have been monitoring it for months because it has a deep rupture that extends over 193 kilometers. According to ESA, currently only 5 kilometers of ice makes the iceberg not yet formed.
No one knows when exactly the iceberg will break - it may happen at any time - but when it comes to it, it will probably take a trillion tons of ice and its height will be about 190 meters. It will be drifting north to South America - perhaps even reaching the Falkland Islands. For this reason, it will endanger ships in the Drake Strait.
Icebergs are separated from Antarctica all the time, but this can be particularly important. Some say that its rise will indicate that the continental ice cover is falling apart because of rising temperatures. Others believe that glacial cracking and calving is part of natural processes that have lasted for centuries.
If the iceberg separates from the Larsen C glacier, its remaining part may become susceptible to further cracks, which in the future will have the chance to break up the entire glacier. In that case, the water level in the world could rise by several centimeter
GIF source: esa.int (The European Space Agency)