Canada's last intact Arctic ice shelf has collapsed

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-last-intact-arctic-milne-ice-shelf-collapse-climate-change/

 

By Sophie Lewis 

August 7, 2020 / 4:14 PM

 

The last fully intact ice shelf in Canada has collapsed into the Arctic Ocean. It took just a couple of days for the shelf to lose nearly half of its area, scientists said Friday, sending large ice islands out into the ocean. 

The 4,000-year-old Milne Ice Shelf, located at the edge of Ellesmere Island in the northern territory of Nunavut, collapsed at the end of last month, researchers announced this week. It lost 43% of its area in just two days.

"Above normal air temperatures, offshore winds and open water in front of the ice shelf are all part of the recipe for ice shelf break up," The Canadian Ice Service said. 

"This drastic decline in ice shelves is clearly related to climate change," Luke Copland, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa, said in a statement. "This summer has been up to 5°C warmer than the average over the period from 1981 to 2010, and the region has been warming at two to three times the global rate. The Milne and other ice shelves in Canada are simply not viable any longer and will disappear in the coming decades."

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Arctic sea ice melt has dire consequences. Not only does melting ice sometimes lead to rising sea levels, it also poses a major threat to endangered species, including polar bears, which rely on the ice for their habitats.

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