Science Visualized Earth

Warm, dry winds may be straining Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf

Autumn melting could be a warning sign

Antarctica

WINDS OF CHANGE  A satellite image from March 2016 shows the blue streaks of unseasonably late snowmelt on the Larsen C ice shelf that was caused by warm winds cascading down mountain slopes on the Antarctic Peninsula.   

Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory

By Jeremy Rehm

- More than 2 years ago

Turquoise pools of snowmelt on the Antarctic Peninsula, including on the Larsen C ice shelf, have recently been forming months after the continent’s peak summer melt.