MELTING ANTARCTIC ICE SHELF MAY INDICATE GLOBAL WARMING

In what could be an early sign of global warming, scientists reported an Antarctic ice shelf has rapidly disintegrated over the past 20 years, apparently due to localized temperature increases. Two researchers with the British Antarctic Survey said Wednesday satellite photos show the Wordie Ice Shelf shrinking from about 800 square miles in 1966 to only 280 square miles in 1989.

In an accompanying commentary, a US scientist from the National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration noted that the melting of Wordie was most likely affected by a regional warming trend.