Argentina records a crack that would leave an ice block twice as large as Moscow

An Argentine mission has traversed the slit that crosses the Larsen C platform in the Antarctic Peninsula, from which an ice block as large as two cities in Moscow could break off.

With the purpose of documenting the evolution of the gigantic crack that crosses the ice block Larsen C, in the Antarctic, an Argentine equipment flew over the zone.

Scientists from the Argentinean Antarctic Institute (IAA) boarded an Air Force plane in this country detected that the slit should only extend another 20 kilometers to record a definitive fracture of the iceberg, which measures about 5,900 square kilometers, equivalent to more Of twice the surface of Moscow.

The detachment of the immense mass of ice would affect the balance between the water contained in the Antarctic continental block and the ocean. The first hypothesis holds that the phenomenon may be a consequence of climate change.

The expedition started from Base Marambio, one of the six permanent bases that Argentina has at the South Pole, in a twin-engine airplane DHC Twin Otter of the Anguilla Flight Squadron Eagle. The aerial crossing extended for more than five hours and allowed to fly over the Antarctic Circle.
The warmest day

The World Meteorological Organization on Monday released one of the highest temperature records in the continental territory of Antarctica, which took place on March 24, 2015, when a peak of 17.5 degrees was recorded at Base Esperanza in Argentina .

«We have verified an extreme case here, but we can not relate it to climate change, although there is a trend towards a higher temperature,» said specialist Jose Luis Stella, quoted in The portal Uno Entre Ríos.

The melting of the Larsen C ice block could cause sea level to rise by about 60 meters. According to recent studies conducted by Greenpeace Andino, the crack of the platform grows «to an equivalent size of five football fields a day».
Butterfly Effect

But what impact on the planet could have the disappearance of an ice block of such magnitude? Scientists consulted by Efe, such as Edgardo Vega, are emphatic: «What happens in Antarctica will determine the climate of other parts very far from this remote continent.»

The most telling evidence of this phenomenon, the specialists say, is that just four days after the 17.5 degree Celsius temperature was recorded in the Antarctic, the Atacama Desert (Chile) received the same amount of rainfall in 24 hours In the 14 previous years. These intense precipitations generated alluviums that left a balance of 31 dead and dozens of missing.

The Larsen C is not the first block that has risk of fracture. In the last thirty years, the frozen platforms called Larsen A and Larsen B.

By.Europactual