As ESA’s Envisat satellite marks ten years in orbit, it continues to observe the rapid retreat of one of Antarctica’s ice shelves due to climate warming.

Ice shelves are retreating in the southern section of the Antarctic Peninsula due to climate change.

Depicting a cause-and-effect scenario that spans thousands of miles, a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and his collaborators discovered that ocean waves originating along the Pacific coasts of North and South America impact Antarctic ice shelves and could play a role in their catastrophic collapse.

The European Space Agency says satellite images show icebergs have begun to calve from the northern front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica. ESA scientists said the images indicate the huge shelf has become unstable following the collapse three weeks ago of the ice bridge that linked the Antarctic mainland with Charcot Island.

A segment of an Antarctic ice shelf about the size of New York City has fallen into the sea this month following an ice bridge collapse, scientists said Tuesday.