The incidents at the Larsen ice shelf highlight the mounting consequences of global warming. The increased temperatures recorded on the Antarctic Peninsula which culminated in the warmest summer on record for the area in 2002 (4), plus the huge melt water pools observed on top of the regions ice shelves, leaves little room for doubt that warming was responsible for the destruction of the Larsen-B ice shelf. The startling realization is how quickly warming has drastically altered this area of Antarctica. The research done after the collapse on the glaciers that fed the Larsen shelf depict how the glaciers are flowing faster and their mass is shrinking, which proves earlier theories that ice shelves act like natural breaks for the glaciers that flow into them. Although the destruction of the Larsen-B
shelf itself had little effect on sea level, glaciers flowing off land do cause rises in sea level, which is now occurring faster since the shelf's disintegration.
The Larsen ice shelf is not one of the major Antarctic shelves, nor are the glaciers that feed it very substantial when compared to the major ice caps on East and West Antarctica, however this incident illustrates vividly how quickly and with what immediate
effects global warming can have on the Antarctic ice shelves. Should similar warming and melt water pooling begin to occur southward on the major shelves, such as the Ross, an expedient collapse of those shelves followed by liquidation of the ice sheets will not be far behind. If the major ice sheets begin to flow into the ocean at an increased rate sea level will rise dramatically, which will have dire consequences for mankind.
The Larsen-B ice shelf just after the 2002 disintegration. (3)
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