This near-infrared AVHRR image documents the collapse of part of the Larsen Ice Shelf bordering the Antarctic Peninsula. The original extent of the ice shelf is outlined on the map above left. The entire northern end of the shelf disintegrated into the grayish swath of ice fragments stretching across the center of the image between Ross and Robertson Islands. Another large section broke free as a giant iceberg, visible at the lower center. The map inset at the top shows Rhode Island and part of Massachusetts for comparison. This image was taken on February 27, 1995, about two weeks after the giant iceberg broke free from the main ice shelf. This is exactly the type of event that had been predicted by scientists modeling the effects of global warming.

The progress of the collapse can be seen in a short five-frame movie. The first frame was taken on January 9, 1995, after the northern part of the shelf had fragmented but before the "superberg" had broken off. The second image was taken on February 12, 1995, and the third, the image below, was taken on February 27. The last image was taken nearly two years later, in January of 1997. The superberg is gone as is nearly all of the ice shelf north of Robertson Island. The four satellite images were captured by the ARIES receiving station at the Rothera research station located on Adelaide Island off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Original images provided by Tom Lachlan-Cope and Russ Ladkin. Co-registration of the images and the map is by S.K. Croft.

To download individual frames of the animation go to the data_sets page.

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