**NASA Satellite Captures Rare 'Sea Smoke' Over Pine Island Glacier**

In a striking satellite image captured by NASA earlier this month, the Pine Island Glacier in western Antarctica appears to be emitting what looks like smoke. This phenomenon, known as "sea smoke," is actually fog that manifests as fluffy white wisps above the dark ocean surface where the glacier meets the sea.

The creation of sea smoke is attributed to the interaction of water and wind. According to NASA, strong winds pushed aside ice and colder water, allowing warmer water to rise to the surface. This warmer water then injected moist air into the extremely cold and dry air above it, causing the moisture to condense and form fog. From ground level, this eerie mist resembles the effect of a fog machine in a haunted house, earning its nickname for its smoke-like appearance.

Sea smoke is not an uncommon event and typically occurs when frigid, dry air moves over a warmer body of water. It's a phenomenon often observed on the Great Lakes during the first Arctic cold fronts of the winter season. However, spotting it over the Pine Island Glacier via satellite is unusual due to the region's frequent cloud cover, making this recent observation particularly significant.

Pine Island Glacier plays a crucial role in Antarctica's ice dynamics. The glacier acts as a conduit for the vast ice sheet behind it, channeling ice into the sea. NASA has highlighted that this flow has increased dramatically since the 1990s due to warmer air and water temperatures, coupled with a lack of snowfall that prevents the glacier from replenishing its ice.

The rapid ice loss at Pine Island Glacier, along with its neighbor, Thwaites Glacier—dubbed the "Doomsday Glacier"—is a significant concern. These glaciers are losing ice at an accelerated rate and have the potential to raise global sea levels by several feet. They also play a key role in stabilizing the larger Antarctic ice sheet, which contains enough ice to raise sea levels by an alarming 10 feet if it were to collapse.