According to a NASA study, the last unbroken section of one of Antarctica’s mammoth ice shelves is quickly disintegrating and in the next few years, it could disintegrate totally and will lead to further increase in sea levels. The study was concentrated on a remnant of the Larsen B Ice Shelf that has been present for at least 10,000 years, however disintegrated partly in 2002. The remaining part covers nearly 625 square miles (1,600 square kilometres), nearly half the size of Rhode Island.

According to team leader, Ala Khazendar, this indicates that the remnant is disintegrating. As per Khazendar, “Although it’s fascinating scientifically to have a front-row seat to watch the ice shelf becoming unstable and breaking up, it’s bad news for our planet. This ice shelf has existed for at least 10,000 years, and soon it will be gone”.

There are dozens of ice shelves in Antarctica. These ice shelves are huge, glacier-fed floating platforms of ice that are present over the sea at the edge of the continent’s coast line. The largest ice shelf is found to be the size of France.

Larsen B is situated in the Antarctic Peninsula, stretching in the direction of the southern tip of South America. It is one of two main areas of the continent and scientists have documented the thinning of these kinds of ice formations here.

According to Eric Rignot, co-author of the study and a glaciologist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, this study tells how ice shelves farther south will respond to a warming climate.

The study has been published online in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. It was based on airborne surveys and radar data.