Ecobreves – ANTARTIDA: Melt Accelerates

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 10 2002 (IPS) - The Larsen Ice Shelf, located east of the Antarctic Peninsula, lost 765 square km of its area in 23 days in February, due to the rising average temperature of the frigid continent, reaching 0.7 degrees Celsius, a 30-year record. The information was provided by the Terra satellite and analyzed by the Snow and Ice Data Center, based in the U.S. state of Colorado.

Scientists report that the Larsen shelf has lost 46 percent of its original area in the last 45 years due to the gradual rise in the Earth's temperatures.