In today’s JSP blog, we’re going to do a little scientific exploration. Yup, it’s off to the South Pole for us science types, so grab your woollies and get set to sail. Our destination: the Antarctic Ocean. More specifically, the last known location of the Larsen B ice shelf, a massive ice shelf that collapsed into the ocean in February 2002 (that’s summer in Antarctica). Ice shelves are vast layers of ice that surround Antarctica. They are extremely thick. The Larsen B shelf was 220 km thick. The Larsen B shelf has existed for at least 400 years, possibly as long as 12 000 years, since the last ice age!

Why are ice shelves collapsing? If you guessed global warming, you are right on the money! Global warming is really picking up speed at the North and South poles. In fact, the coldest regions of the world are warming the fastest! That’s bad news for the planet because the sinking of cold water at the poles drives the ocean currents of the world. (It works like a giant conveyor belt!) These currents warm and cool the continents and help modify temperatures around the world. Scientists are just starting to guess what could happen if global ocean currents start to change. 

The collapse of the Larsen B ice sheet may well be a warning to the world to stop polluting. This was a pretty big event after all. How big? Did you know that the Larsen B ice shelf was bigger than the state of Rhode Island? Imagine an entire state collapsing into the ocean and you get an idea of what this event must have been like. Yikes! That’s a really big ice cube!