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gra exhibit antarctica

Antarctica

 

 

 
photo exhibit antarctica 1

Pine Island Glacier and the Antarctic Peninsula, western Antarctica | Satellite Image (2016)

This image shows the Antarctic Peninsula in western Antarctica, with Pine Island Glacier in the lower left.

Pine Island Glacier, one the largest glaciers in western Antarctica, is the fastest thinning glacier in Antarctica, responsible for some 25% of Antarctica’s ice loss5. It loses an extraordinary 45 billion tonnes of ice to the ocean each year — equivalent to 1 millimetre of global sea level rise every eight years6. The ice loss is accelerating at an alarming rate. This single glacier contains about 52 centimetres of potential global sea level rise and is thought to be in the process of unstable retreat

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Larsen C, Western Antarctica | Satellite Image (2013)

In July 2017, a giant iceberg, known as A68, measuring 5,800 square kilometres, broke free from the Larsen C ice field in western Antarctica. (To put it into perspective, Hong Kong Island is 80.5 square kilometres.) It is one of the largest icebergs ever recorded. This image shows what Larsen C looked like in 2013, with a large rift developing (centre of image).

5. NASA (2017). Pine Island Glacier Retreat, Antarctica. Retrieved from https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30914

6. Mooney, C (2017, Sep 25). A key Antarctic glacier just lost a huge piece of ice — the latest sign of its worrying retreat. The Washington Post. Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/25/a-key-antarctic-glacier-just-lost-a-piece-of-ice-four-times-the-size-of-manhattan/?utm_term=.904e10ac0031

 
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