Antarctica has once again encountered the unexpected with yet another iceberg crashing against a glacier, causing the dislodgement of a massive new piece of ice. The new chunk of ice that broke off is only minutely smaller compared to Oahu which broke off not only unexpectedly but also in a manner that had not been previously anticipated, said scientists in February.
The new chunk of ice was dislodged from the eastern section of Antarctica, which is much cooler. According to scientists, the removal was caused by tidal forces and broke off a long piece of ice that had built up over decades.
Researchers have been focusing their attention on the western parts of Antarctica due to huge concerns over the unusually warm temperatures there, as well as the slowly diminishing peninsula. A senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre, Ted Scambos stated that the peninsula’s temperatures have been cooler in recent times which is reassuring and has ‘hit a pause on the loss of ice’.
A day before the chunk of ice was removed from the iceberg, Scambos via a satellite phone interview said he predicted no huge ice calving, only to be alerted by Australian researchers the next day regarding the crash of the iceberg. The estimated date of the crash is said to be February 12th or 13th.
The influence on Antarctica caused by global warming has been closely monitored by scientists, a place said to be far more complicated than the Arctic. Experts say that the recent loss of ice was not caused by global warming though, but due to natural processes which take place in the region, termed ‘relatively stable’ over the last few years.
