Iceberg that's twice the size of Washington cleaves off Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica, in a sign
Source: Washington Post
Capital Weather Gang
Iceberg that's twice the size of Washington cleaves off Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica, in a sign of warming
By Andrew Freedman
Editor focusing on extreme weather, climate change, science and the environment.
February 10 at 11:42 AM
An iceberg about twice the size of the District of Columbia broke off Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica sometime between Feb. 8 and 9, satellite data shows, confirming yet another in a series of increasingly frequent calving events in this rapidly warming region.
The Pine Island Glacier is one of the fastest-retreating glaciers in Antarctica, and along with the Thwaites Glacier nearby, it's a subject of close scientific monitoring to determine whether these glaciers are in a phase of runaway melting, potentially freeing up vast inland areas of ice to flow to the sea and raising sea levels.
According to NASA, the region surrounding the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers contains enough "highly vulnerable ice" to raise global sea levels by about 4 feet.
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The new iceberg from Pine Island did not last long as a single chunk of ice, instead breaking off into smaller pieces that will gradually head out to sea. But this behavior is consistent with recent studies of this glacier.
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Andrew Freedman
Andrew Freedman edits and reports on extreme weather and climate science for the Capital Weather Gang. He has covered science, with a specialization in climate research and policy, for Axios, Mashable, Climate Central, E&E Daily and other publications. Follow https://twitter.com/Afreedma
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/02/10/iceberg-thats-twice-size-washington-cleaves-off-pine-island-glacier-antarctica-sign-warming/
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