Antarctica Sheds Ice

In 2002, a thunderous roar rumbled across the Antarctic Peninsula. A sheet of ice the size of the state of Rhode Island broke away into the water. The sheet split into thousands of icebergs floating in the Weddell Sea.

The continent of Antarctica is the coldest, iciest place on Earth. It is almost never warmer than 32° F. Antarctica does not get much rain or snow and when they do fall, they turn to ice. In fact, the entire continent is covered with an enormous ice cap. The Antarctic ice cap contains almost 70 percent of the fresh water in the world.

The ice that broke off Antarctica in 2002 had been part of the Larsen Ice Shelf. Antarctica's ice shelves are huge, thick areas of ice along the coasts. The section of the ice shelf that collapsed was named Larsen B. It weighed about 720 billion tons.

Shedding Ice

Larsen B wasn't the first giant chunk of ice to break off Antarctica. Larsen A, a similar-size ice chunk, broke away in 1995. Some scientists worry that a third section called Larsen C will break away next.

Many scientists say the collapse of the ice shelves in Antarctica is part of a natural cycle. They think that new ice builds up in the middle of the continent. The new ice pushes older ice down and out and causes it to break away.

A Warming Trend?

Other scientists say the recent collapses show that Earth's average temperature is increasing. The worldwide rise in temperature is called global warming.

Scientist Ted Scambos says global warming has caused longer summers in parts of Antarctica. The longer summers have caused some of the continent's ice to melt. The melting ice forms pools of water. The weight of the water causes cracks in the ice shelves to get bigger. When the cracks become large enough, icebergs break away from Antarctica.

Scientists agree that they don't know enough about Antarctica to know what is really happening there. They say they need to study the continent more closely.