Satellite images of Wilkins Ice Shelf collapse

The shelf’s rapid collapse began on February 28 (see image sequence at top right), sending a giant swath of broken ice into the sea (detail at bottom).

(PO News already has an item on this but the Satellite images in this NG article are worth a look.)

David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey noted that the larger formation from which the chunk detached—the Wilkins Ice Shelf—could itself collapse in 15 years.

“Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on West Antarctica yet to be threatened,” Vaughan said in the statement. “This shelf is hanging by a thread.”

National Geographic