'A 300-square-mile portion of the Pine Island Glacier is expected to break off in the next few months, creating a massive Antarctic iceberg. The glacier is contributing the sea-level rise.'
'Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier is preparing to shed a 300-square-mile chunk of its ice to the ocean in a process of ice loss that has been accelerating in recent years.
Even at 300 square miles, the chunk is modest by historical standards. In 1956, for instance, the crew of the icebreaker USS Glacier spotted a Belgium-sized berg from Antarctica floating near Scott Island in the South Pacific Ocean.
Still, the Pine Island Glacier's losses probably represent Antarctica's largest contribution so far to global sea-level rise, notes Hamish Prichard, a researcher with the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England. ...
Carbon-dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and from land-use changes are seen by most climate scientists as a key driver behind the warming trend, particularly during the past 30 to 40 years.'
Pete Spotts reports for the Christian Science Monitor November 4, 2011.
SEE ALSO:
'Forests of the Future Reshaped by Climate, Diseases' (ENS)
'Health Cost Of 6 U.S. Climate Disasters: $14 Billion' (Reuters)
'Alligator River Refuge Rolls Back From Rising Sea' (Miller-McCune)
'Floods Show What Lies Ahead for Sinking Bangkok' (Pattaya Daily News)
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