Satellite images suggest that part of the ice shelf is disintegrating, and will soon crumble away.

The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the 1990s.

Six ice shelves in the same part of the continent have already been lost, says the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). 



BAS researchers were alerted to the break-up by daily monitoring of satellite images. They sent a Twin Otter aircraft on a reconnaissance mission to video what was happening.

Jim Elliott, who was on board the plane, said he had never seen anything like it before.

He said: "We flew along the main crack and observed the sheer scale of movement from the breakage.

"Big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble - it's like an explosion."

(picture from BBC)

Professor Vaughan predicted in 1993 that the northern part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf would be lost within 30 years if climate warming continued. But he said it is happening more quickly than he expected.

He told BBC News: "What we're actually seeing is a chunk of the ice shelf drop off in a way that suggests it is not just a normal part of iceberg formation.

"This is not a sea level rise issue, but is yet another indication of climate change in the Antarctic Peninsula and how it is affecting the environment." 

Scientists say the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out into the Southern Ocean towards the tip of South America, has experienced unprecedented warming over the last 50 years.

Several ice shelves have retreated in the past 30 years - six of them collapsing completely. 


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環保議題的關心越來越受到大家的重視, 因為我們都發現新聞裡出現的生態環境與地球氣候的遽變已經越演越烈!

在上述文章中其實已經表示,南極大陸的某個冰棚正在不斷的塌陷。說塌陷好像是比較平靜而緩慢的，科學家發現它是以類似爆炸性的崩落呈現，當絕大多數的人類正在北半球拼命製造污染的同時，悄悄發生。另外科學家也表示，這冰棚的崩落並非我們平常所說的海平面上升的議題，而是另外一個關於南極氣候驟變的現象！

最近又出現企鵝因不堪南極異常的雨勢，數以萬計的死亡，生態的警示已經瀕臨警戒邊緣。我們所能做的還能有什麼？

其實值得欣慰的是，自備環保筷的人變多了，使用環保袋的型態也已經逐漸的成為一種習慣；縱使我們還是看的到非常多的小吃店、冷飲店都還是會主動不用錢的準備塑膠袋給客人，如果我們還能做什麼，請拒絕店家雖然貼心卻不夠環保的動作，而且若家裡有孩子的家長們，落實教育於生活之中，環保的概念從小的培養才能夠真正的去扭轉我們過去不重視環保而製造不必要的汙染的習慣。

你還是邊看著南極企鵝死亡大呼＂好可憐＂，手裡邊拿著一杯用保麗龍杯裝的飲料嗎？
我們無法杜絕店家的黑心行為，至少要學會說不！