The floating platform has lost a fifth of its extent in just three years
Ansa / CorriereTv
Pine Island glacier in Antarctica is melting faster than expected. The discovery was made thanks to the analysis on the images of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite managed by ESA. According to scientists, the floating platform shrank by a fifth of its extent between 2017 and 2020. This phenomenon is due to warmer water currents that thin the buffer parts of the glacier. Over time this would cause the entire platform to collapse, creating criticalities across the globe. According to experts, if Pine Island were to melt, it would cause the oceans to rise by about 0.5 meters. This, together with the reduction of the glacier adjacent to Pine Island, the Thwaites, could upset the ecosystem balance of West Antarctica.
June 15, 2021 – Updated June 15, 2021, 10:24 pm
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