This article discusses how the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than average.
A new study from international researchers reveals that part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the global average.
Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf, which is roughly the size of France, is melting at historic levels as more of the surrounding ocean water gets heated by the sun, scientists said, according to a press release from the University of Cambridge.
“The stability of ice shelves is generally thought to be related to their exposure to warm deep ocean water, but we’ve found that solar heated surface water also plays a crucial role in melting ice shelves,” Dr. Craig Stewart from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, one of the authors of the study, said in the release.