If you needed further evidence that the earth is warming, scientists are now offering up a melting Antarctic ice shelf as further proof.

The Wilkins Ice Shelf began to dissipate in the early 1990s and in 1993 Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) predicted the northern part of the shelf would completely disappear within 30 years. The BAS say six other ice shelves in the region have already disappeared, however Vaughan says he never would have predicted the Wilkins Ice Shelf would melt so rapidly.

"I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread - we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be. This is not a sea level rise issue, but is yet another indication of climate change in the Antarctic Peninsula and how it is affecting the environment."

Based on satellite images, scientists believe that part of the ice shelf will soon crumble away, however as melting season in Antarctica wraps up, don't expect this to occur until next January. Researchers recently sent a Twin Otter aircraft to record the melting.

Jim Elliott, who was on board the plane, said he had never seen anything like it before. He said: "We flew along the main crack and observed the sheer scale of movement from the breakage. Big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble - it's like an explosion." 

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