- Abstract:
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Animation fly-over of the Fimbul Ice Shelf
- Subject:
- Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
- Secondary, Post-secondary
- Collection:
- NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio
Animation fly-over of the Fimbul Ice Shelf
In 1978, scientists predicted that global warming would lead to a disintegration of Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves. Space-borne data indicate that this prediction may be coming true. In these before and after images, note the dramatic change in the apparent shoreline. Scientists captured the first image using the ERS-1 satellite in 1992. As seen in the second image, collected by RADARSAT in 1997, huge changes have come to the coastline. In 1995, a 2000 square kilometer section of the ice shelf collapsed into thousands of fragments that eventually drifted out to sea. Researchers are still debating why the ice shelf broke up so dramatically, and what significance the break up has for interpreting local versus global changes to the environment. Theories include a series of warmer than usual summers which may have caused high levels of surface melting, or an overall climate warming trend.
Close up animation of Antarctica morphing from 20,000 years ago to the current day. (View centered on the Ronne Ice shelf.)
20,000 year morph animation of the Ross Ice Shelf