Antarctic ice shelf at risk
A THIRD of the Antarctic ice shelf could disappear because of climate change, according to research.
Around 310,000 square miles – four times the size of Great Britain – will collapse under 4C of warming, warn scientists. It would be equivalent to 20 metres of sea level rise – reshaping shorelines around the world. But by limiting temperature rises to 2C ocean swelling could potentially be avoided.
Dr Ella Gilbert, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, explained: “Ice shelves are important buffers preventing glaciers on land from flowing freely into the ocean.
“When they collapse it’s like a giant cork being removed from a bottle, allowing unimaginable amounts of water from glaciers into the sea.
“The findings highlight the importance of limiting global temperature increases as set out in the Paris Agreement if we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, including sea level rise.”
The findings are published in Geophysical Research Letters.