The ice shelves of Pine Island Glacier are breaking apart rapidly and may collapse faster than previously projected, according to a study by Washington University and British Antarctic Survey.
The glacier is one of the largest ice streams in Antarctica and contains approximately 180 trillion tonnes of ice, melting of which could result in 0.5 meters or 1.6 feet of global sea-level rise.
It is Antarctica’s biggest supporter of ocean level ascent, causing around one-sixth of a millimeter increment to the ocean level every year or around 66% of an inch each century. A few examinations have shown that previous speedups were because of soften driven diminishing, concentrated close to the establishing line.
Between 2017 and 2020, there were three large breakup events, creating icebergs more than eight kilometres long and 36 kilometres wide, which then split into lots of little pieces, the study revealed. While ice loss is part of climate change, there was no unusual extra warming in the region that triggered this acceleration.