An ice bridge connecting the vast Wilkins ice shelf - an ice mass about the size of Connecticut - to Antarctica splintered into hundreds of smaller pieces after it broke apart from the continent late last week.
Ice shelves like the Wilkins take centuries to develop, yet the destruction of a large portion of it occurred in just two days.
Satellite images from the European Space Agency indicate that for the past one to two months the shelf appeared stable, although it has been shrinking since the late 1990s.
In addition to satellite images, scientists have tracked the movement of the ice shelf with a global positioning system placed on the ice.
A cautionary warning of more Antarctic splitting to come, scientists believe this development is almost certainly another effect of global warming.
The shelf has been gradually melting for years, but the breakage of the ice bridge into a multitude of small icebergs is an environmentally significant sign of climate distress.
When an ice bridge collapses, the larger ice shelves which were previously "anchored" together have more mobility. This increased mobility gives them more potential for warming and melting.
Among other consequences, the massive amounts of water released by the melting ice will contribute to an ongoing increase in global sea levels.
Not only is this ice bridge shattering making waves in Antarctica, but across the planet at the just-completed European Union-United States summit environmental activists are citing the collapse to urge world leaders to act on climate change.
As President Barack Obama addressed crowds in Prague, Greenpeace International unfurled a banner over a bridge reading "Bail Out the Climate!"
On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton cited the preservation of Antarctica as a major goal of global environmental policy at a conference of foreign ministers of Arctic nations in Baltimore.
In the mean time, scientists will be scrutinizing the Antarctic ice shelves for any further breaking developments.
