Overwhelmed oceans are crying out for help

Scientists watching a major rift in the Antarctica, which has grown in the past few years, say it will soon cause a section of the ice shelf to break off and "collapse" into the ocean. The ice sheet that could break off from the West Antarctica, known as Larsen C, is the size of the US state of Delaware, or about 5,000 square kilometers.

Project Midas, which provides frequent updates on the Larsen C shelf, says in its latest report that when the ice sheet breaks off, the Larsen C shelf will lose more than 10 percent of its area to leave the ice front "at its most retreated position ever recorded". This event will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula. Project Midas has previously shown that the new configuration will be less stable than it was prior to the rift, and that Larsen C may eventually follow the example of its neighbor Larsen B, which disintegrated in 2002 after a similar rift-induced calving event.

This may not appear catastrophic to the world at large, which seems busy celebrating the opening of new shipping lanes in the Arctic, the other "ice land" which many scientists believe has entered a vicious circle of summer and melting. More icebreakers to explore and exploit the oil and gas reserves, and manpower and equipment to tap the wide variety of minerals and forest resources in the Arctic appear to be the order of the day.