Photo by @CristinaMittermeier. Ethereal and beautiful, an ice sculpture temporarily frozen in time, drifts in Antarctic waters. Antarctica holds 90 percent of the world’s ice and 70 percent of our freshwater, so if even a small fraction of the ice sheet in Antarctica melts, the resulting sea level rise will completely remap the world, as we know it. Today, however, there is reason for hope. The largest marine protected area (MPA) in the world—covering 600,000 square miles—has just been declared in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. We are joyous! Follow me @CristinaMittermeier for more images and stories from Antarctica and the lives of the creatures dependent on ice.
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