Antarctica: 60% of ice shelves at risk of fracture, research suggests

Collapse of shelves would accelerate loss of Antarctic ice sheet and increase sea-level rise

Approximately 60% of Antarctica's ice shelves could be vulnerable to fracture, accelerating the loss of the Antarctic ice sheet and increasing sea-level rise, according to a paper.

Antarctica's ice shelves, floating extensions of the ice sheet, help slow the flow of ice into the ocean. But if these shelves fracture and then collapse, the flow of melting glaciers into the oceans accelerates.