Melting pot

RISING temperatures have left an indelible mark on the frozen continent -
8,000 sq km of ice sheets hundreds of
metres thick have been lost in the past
50 years - as the mercury in this region
has climbed by 2.5C it) these many
years. Two UK-based Antarctic survey
glaciotogists, David Vaughan and
Chris Doake, say that the breaking of the
ice shelves was predicted in 1978 by a US
geologist, John Mercer. The Antarctica
is considered to be an indicator of
global warming. In only 50 days last
year, 1,300 Sit km of the Larsen ice shelf
broke off from the main continental ice
sheet, sending chunks of icebergs into
the Weddell Sea. This has led to the
changing of the map of Antarctica.