For those still trying to decide if global warming is just an alarmist myth, consider this: a Rhode Island-size block of the Antarctic ice shelf broke off into the sea during a 35-day period earlier this year. Scientists' only explanation for this collapse is global warming.

Antarctica, a huge landmass located at the Earth's South Pole, is covered by ice year 'round. During its summer (December 21-March 20) some melting occurs, and the ice shelves on the coast retreat from the sea. When the ice melts it pools on top and then seeps through cracks in the ice to crack it further. (This process is similar to how potholes are created on roads during the winter.) Over the course of the Antarctic summer, pieces of ice break off from the shelf to form icebergs. This is a natural, ongoing process.

What is new is that over the last thirty years scientists have documented a warming trend of about 0.5° C (Celsius) (or 0.9° F, Fahrenheit) per decade in this region. This means the average temperature in Antarctica has increased about 2.5 ° C (or 4.5° F) since 1970! Concurrently, the melting trend has been accelerating and greater numbers and larger chunks of the shelf have been breaking off.

Within the last decade:

• The Larsen A Ice Shelf, 1,300 square kilometers (about 585 square miles) in size, completely disintegrated in January 1995.


• A section of the Larsen B Ice Shelf, about 200 square kilometers (about 90 square miles) in size, broke off into the sea between February 26 and March 23, 1998.


• Another section of the Larsen B Ice Shelf, about 1,714 square kilometers (about 770 square miles) in extent, fell into the ocean between March 1998 and 1999.

Dr. Ted Scambos is a researcher with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder, Colorado. In 1998 he predicted "At the end of the next austral summer -- late February to mid March of 1999 -- Larsen B could become exposed to ocean swells, and we think the disintegration will continue. It may all go next year, or it might take several years to complete." The Larson B ice shelf is about 12,000 square kilometers (5,390 square miles) in area.

From January 31 (left photo) to March 5, 2002 (right photo), orbiting satellites documented the northern section of the Larsen B Ice Shelf pooling with melted ice and then breaking up and falling into the sea. The size of this fallen section was estimated to be 3,250 square kilometers (about 1,460 square miles). "This is the largest single event in a series of retreats in the [Antarctic] Peninsula over the last thirty years," according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) See their site at http://nsidc.org/iceshelves/larsen2002/.

Icebergs in the Antarctic Ocean are the least of the problems, though. As the ice shelves break off, the glaciers (which are actually frozen rivers dammed by the ice shelves) move more quickly and empty more ice into the sea. This will significantly raise sea levels around the world. Glacier ice speed increases have been documented and other ice shelves (like the Ross Ice Shelf) are only a few degrees on the thermometer away from following in the footsteps of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Sheet holds back glaciers that contain the equivalent of 5 meters (about 16 feet) of sea level rise. So, not only has global warming in the Antarctic been documented, its consequences are beginning to be seen.

Some people are concerned about whether we have enough oil to last the next twenty years. In 1992, scientists at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development reported bluntly, "No more than one or a few decades remain…" One decade has already passed. In the August 2000 issue of Spirit of Ma'at, Drunvalo reminded us, "The Earth is our Mother. She is alive. She is not only our home, she is our body. Without her there is no future … The potential death of our planet makes all other problems irrelevant."

The U. N. Conference concluded there was no solution to our environmental problems that could be implemented by governments or scientists. Only a change in the mindset of every one of us can heal our planet.