Transcripts of PIG_Crack_update_youtube_hq

The crack is growing. In Western Antarctica, on one of the continent’s largest and fastest-moving glaciers, an iceberg as big as New York City slowly breaks away. It's been four months since NASA's Operation IceBridge surveyed the Pine Island Glacier, and performed the first detailed airborne measurements of the genesis of such a massive iceberg. By draping aerial photography over laser altimetry data, IceBridge team members have created this 3D virtual flythough of the crack in the ice. 

[music] The nearly 20 mile long rift is 50 to 60 meters deep, but that’s just down to the waterline. Since this is a floating ice shelf, there’s approximately 8 times as much ice under the water. Upstream from the rift, a separate research team studying flow has installed GPS devices that may be able to detect whether Pine Island Glacier speeds up after the iceberg splits off. In the meantime, NASA satellites have been watching as the rift spreads a few more meters each day. But just when will this iceberg be born? It's hard to say, but if it doesn't split off during the coming weeks, developing sea ice could protect it for months as the oncoming Antarctic winter sets in.