Written question asked by Michael Shersby (Conservative), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 February 1997. It was answered by Nicholas Bonsor (Conservative) on Wednesday, 12 February 1997 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: If he will call for a report from the Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory on the rift that has appeared in the Larsen B ice shelf; what assessment he has made of the extent to which it indicates changing global temperatures and the possibility of rising sea levels.

Answer: Sir Michael Shersby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will call for a report from the commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory on the rift that has appeared in the Larsen B ice shelf; what assessment he has made of the extent to which it indicates changing global temperatures and the possibility of rising sea levels; and if he will make a statement. [15236] Sir Nicholas Bonsor: Additional rifts on the Larsen ice shelf have been identified in the past two years. However, the most recent scientific expedition to the area, in November 1996, found nothing extraordinary about these rifts. The British Antarctic Survey--BAS--interpretation is that the retreat of ice shelves around the Antarctic peninsula is due to local atmospheric warming. This is not necessarily correlated with temperature trends elsewhere in Antarctica or globally. If local warming continues, it is almost certain that another part of the Larsen ice shelf will disappear. Since the ice shelf is already floating, and therefore displacing the equivalent of its own mass in the water, there would be no rise in sea level even if it were to disintegrate and melt.

Secondary information