Antarctic ice shelf collapses in runaway disintegration

A chunk of Antarctic ice nine times the size of New York’s Manhattan Island has collapsed suddenly and put an even larger glacial area at risk.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 220-square-mile (570-square-kilometer) chunk in western Antarctica. British scientist David Vaughan says it is the result of global warming.

The rest of the ice shelf, the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice. Scientists worry that it too may collapse. Larger and more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

IHT