ANTARCTIC MELTING??? CHECK THE NATIONAL SNOW AN ICE DATA CENTER!

NSDIC - ICE SHEETS TODAY   NATIONAL SNOW AN ICE DATA CENTER   MAPS, CHARTS, REPORTS!

Excerpts: After setting records in December and January for melt extent in the 47-year satellite record, melt extents dropped abruptly by early February when conditions over the Antarctic Peninsula cooled. Overall, the number of melt days exceeded the 1991 to 2020 long-term average by approximately 10 days in the Larsen C Ice Shelf area, 15 days in the Fimbul Ice Shelf area, and over 30 days along the eastern side of the Amery Ice Shelf. Also notable were above average melt days in the West, Shackleton, and Totten Ice Shelf areas. The Sulzberger and Ross Ice Shelves were among the few areas with below average melt days for the austral summer season. Extensive ponding apparent in January in satellite images on the Larsen B remnant, known as Scar Inlet Ice Shelf, and northern Larsen C, all refroze in February; however, ponding and some surface melt flow were still visible on the Amery and Roi Baudouin Ice Shelves into March, although with a frozen surface at that point.

SCHMIDT OCEAN INSTITUTE : WOULD YOU LIKE TO APPLY TO TRAVEL ON A RESEARCH VESSEL?

SCHMIDT OCEAN ORG 

SCHMIDT OCEAN ORG : THRIVING ECOSYSTEM ON DETACHED ICEBERG

The ICEBERG was as big as CHICAGO... and on the sea floor...

Excerpt: An international team on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) working in the Bellingshausen Sea rapidly pivoted their research plans to study an area that was, until last month, covered by ice. On January 13, 2025, an iceberg the size of Chicago, named A-84, broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf, one of the massive floating glaciers attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet. The team reached the newly exposed seafloor on January 25 and became the first to investigate an area that had never before been accessible to humans.

SEE THE PICTURES!

A large sponge, a cluster of anemones, and other life is seen nearly 230 meters deep at an area of the seabed that was very recently covered by the George VI Ice Shelf, a floating glacier in Antarctica. Sponges can grow very slowly, sometimes less than two centimeters a year. Therefore, the size of this specimen suggests this community has been active for decades, perhaps even hundreds of years.

NASA REVEALS GLOBAL SEA LEVELS ROSE BY UNEXEPECTED HIGHER LEVELS : HUNDREDS OF CITIES MAY BE OVERWHELMED

DAILY MAIL : NASA ...GLOBAL SEA LEVEL RISE UNEXPECTEDLY HIGH AMOUNT 

The rise we saw in 2024 was higher than we expected,' said Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

'Every year is a little bit different, but what's clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster.'

Since 1993, global sea levels have risen by a staggering 3.97-inches (10.1cm).

And if they continue to climb at this rate, hundreds of densely populated cities around the world could be plunged underwater. Excerpt: According to NASA, this 'unexpected' increase was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice such as glaciers.

Siren here! Check out those charts!

ICEBERG THE SIZE OF CHICAGO LET GO FROM ANTARTICA

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY - ICEBERG SPEEDS AWAY

Excerpt: Named A-84 by the U.S. National Ice Center, the berg measures about 30 kilometers (19 miles) long and 17 kilometers (11 miles) wide. It has an area approaching the size of Chicago, Illinois.

Iceberg calving is a normal occurrence  for ice shelves. However, factors such as warming air and water along with decreasing protective sea ice can accelerate calving and lead to collapse, as has happened to several ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula.

Observations made by explorers beginning in the early 1940s, and later by remote sensing, show that the George VI has been losing shelf ice. For now, the retreat has been gradual, aided by the stability provided by its unique location, sandwiched between the Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island. *** Siren here! As we know, iceberg melt can raise the sea level. Other, larger bergs have broken off and gone to sea...

HOW DOES ANTARCTICA's BLUE ICEBERGS FORM?

EROS USGS  Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Excerpt:

The ice appears blue as a result of the absorption of solar radiation at yellow and red wavelengths. Deeply penetrating light is uniformly scattered at blue wavelengths by the enclosed air bubbles.

Blue ice areas are also noteworthy for their role in preserving fallen meteorites. Over time, the ice has trapped and preserved asteroid fragments, and scientists frequently scour these areas to collect them.

QUICK FACTS ON ICEBERGS - THEY ARE MELTING - FROM NATIONAL SNOW AND ICE DATA CENTER

NSIDC - ICEBERGS and GLACIERS - ICE! 

Excerpt: The International Ice Patrol uses airplanes and radars to track icebergs that float into major shipping lanes.  The U.S. National Ice Center uses satellite date rto monitor icebergs near Antarctia...

MCMURDO OCEANOGRAPHIC OBSERVATORY - ANTARCTICA LIVE UNDERWATER SOUNDS

DISCOVER MAGAZINE - MCMURDO GET'S MAJOR OVERHAUL by Roni Dengler

A hundred or so buildings will be demolished and six new buildings will be built.  This article shows renderings of the buildings to be built.

ICEBERG ANTARTICA - MYSTERIOUS SEA FLOOR EXPOSED

GIZMONDO - MYSTERIOUS SEA FLOOR EXPOSED - ANTARTICA

EXCERPT:
Iceberg A-68, as it’s called, calved from Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf on July 12, 2017. Weighing about a trillion tons and featuring a surface area of 2,240 square miles (5,800 square kilometers), the iceberg is about the size of Delaware, or about four times the size of London, England. It’s been drifting away from the area for months now, slowly disintegrating into smaller and smaller bits (and spawning treacherous many icebergs in the process). For thousands of years, this chunk of ice rested above the seafloor, but it’s gone now, and scientists are eager to explore the mysterious world underneath.

NATIONAL ICE CENTER REPORTS ON INDIVIDUAL ICEBERGS!

Recent news that there's an iceberg the size of MANHATTAN breaking off Antartica had me researching icebergs. I found the NATIONAL ICE CENTER, linking above! You can click on an ID code for a berg and see a picture of it! The list includes the current LOCATION of the berg!

WIRED SCIENCE reports on MASSIVE ICE BREAK OFF GREENLAND

"100-square-mile block of ice 600 feet thick has calved off one of the largest ocean-bordering glaciers in Greenland. The Arctic hasn’t lost a chunk of ice that large since 1962." You can link to the whole article with a dramatic illustration by clicking on the title above!

MAKE YOUR OWN ICEBERG and other science projects from BEYOND PENGUINS and POLAR BEARS

WOW! YOU TOO CAN MAKE YOUR OWN ICEBERG!

RARE ICEBERG FLOATING PAST AUSTRALIA

Brrrrrrr!
Siren had to get back to the beach after sighting this one!

"Several huge icebergs broke off from Antarctica's Ross ice shelf and the Ronne ice shelf in 2000 and are now drifting away from Antarctica. The first was about 190 miles long and 23 miles wide!" - Mark Tran