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100-Mile Crack Slicing Through Antarctic Ice Shelf Troubles Scientists
ResumeA rift in an Antarctic ice shelf has grown to more than 100 miles long, and scientists say it could soon calve off into one of the largest icebergs ever recorded.
A U.K.-based team of scientists known as Project MIDAS (@MIDASOnIce) says the iceberg is likely to break free from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf within the next few months. The ice already floats on the ocean, so its separation won't raise sea levels, but the loss of such a large chunk of sea ice is likely to hasten the melting of glaciers on land, which would contribute to sea level rise.
Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Project MIDAS's Martin O'Leary (@mewo2), a glaciologist at Swansea University in Wales.
This segment aired on February 7, 2017.