A team of researchers from several European institutions found evidence that the collapse
Ice shelves form when ice from glaciersgets into the seas or oceans, and instead of being destroyed, they float on top of the ocean. Previous research has shown that as global warming progresses, ice shelves have begun to erode. And although such destruction does not contribute to the rise of the ocean level, their loss allows the glaciers that created them to flow unhindered into the sea. Previous research has also shown that one of the main reasons for the collapse of ice shelves is the flow of warmer water underneath. In the new work, the researchers found that warm rivers are also most likely a contributing factor.
To learn more about the possible impactatmospheric rivers in the Antarctic region, the researchers used several tools, including a computer algorithm designed specifically to detect water flows, as well as climate models and satellite imagery. After identifying and tracing the paths of atmospheric rivers, they found that one of them arrived in 1995, shortly before the collapse of Larsen A, and the other in 2002, shortly before the collapse of Larsen B.
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