Photo Gallery Antarctic Thaw
A team of scientists has collected data about the history of Antarctic glaciers dating back to the last Ice Age -- and what they have learned is not good news. New research by the British Antarctic Survey's Joanne Johnson and her colleagues confirms something that scientists have long feared, namely that glaciers in West Antarctica are losing their mass at an "unusually rapid" rate.
Parting ways: Last October, a huge iceberg broke off from the tip of the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica.
This NASA satellite image shows iceberg B-15A, the world's largest, after it ran aground in Antarctica in January. The iceberg posed problems for researchers in Antarctica and endangered thousands of penguin chicks, whose colonies were suddenly miles from the ocean -- their source of food -- after the collision.
The massive B-15A iceberg is roughly the size of Luxembourg and has disrupted air and water currents in the Antarctic.
A pod of Minke whales passes an iceberg in western Antarctica. In the last year, countless ice shelves have collapsed from glaciers in the western reaches of the continent into the ocean.
Penguins on a free-floating iceberg: An Antarctic thaw will have major consequences for the animals that live there.
A blue iceberg towers above an ice flow off the coast of Antarctica. Scientists are worried that the rapid thawing of Antarctic ice could mean a drastic rise in global sea levels.
An iceberg breaks off the Knox Coast. Warming water temperatures are thought to be contributing to the problem.
A deep crevasse forms in the Antarctic ice shelf as a massive iceberg breaks away.
Giant tabular blocks of ice are seen in Vincennes Bay. While researchers have many clues to explain the rapid melting, the exact reasons are still unknown.
A New Zealand air force plane motors past an iceberg: A maritime warning was issued recently after 100 icebergs were discovered near the Auckland Islands, just 260 kilometers (160 miles) from mainland New Zealand.
This iceberg has run aground near a penguin colony in Antarctica.
