Shearing from cliffs Now, researchers have identified two new processes that can make this still worse. 2. Warm air, rain and meltwater cause fissures in the shelf, which breaks away from the glacier in large swaths. Eventually, only vertical ice cliffs remain. Temperatures Crevassi above freezing hydrgfract tiring 0 ' Unstable cliffs (Around 300 ft.) Glacial retreat e""il r lifir i , ' 3. As warm water continually eats away at the glacier's base, the unstable cliff faces above the water line shear off under their own massive weight. Source: Contribution of Antarctica to Past and Future Sea-Level Rae." by Robert M. DeConto and David Pollard, In Nature CHIQUI ESTEBAN. BONNIE BERKOWITZ. PATTERSON CLARK / THE WASHINGTON POST EFTA01190034