It was reported by Reuters on March 23 ,that Antarctica's massive ice shelf has begun to break up according to Argentine scientists located there. Dr. Rodolfo del Valle, an Argentine scientist said the first thing he did when he saw the tremendous 40 mile long crack that now runs through the Larsen ice shelf, was cry. del Valle went on to say that this is an even more worrying sign than when a giant iceberg was discovered to have broken off back in January. Mr. del Valle was at his Antarctic campsite when he was called over the radio by colleagues located near the crack and was told, "Rudi, something is happening, the ice shelf is breaking up. Mr. del Valle flew over the area at an altitude of 6,000 feet and saw the ice shelf broken into pieces, some pieces he estimated as thick as 1000 feet. Due to the massive crack, areas of the sea were exposed that have been covered by ice for the past 20,000 years. del Valle said, "it was spectacular, because what once was a platform of ice 40 miles wide had been broken into pieces that looked like bits of polystyrene foam...smashed by a child." The ice shelves insulate the continental ice cap from warm weather and scientists say even the partial melting of it could have catastrophic consequences. The ice cap contains 70% of the worlds fresh water and if it all melted, sea levels would rise by 120-300 feet. del Valle went on to say, "Everyone has their attention fixed on the climate change and the theory that says the first step towards the destruction of the Western Antarctic ice cap is the breaking up of the ice shelves."