 Antarctica is <unk> cold and arid . Most of the world 's freshwater ice is contained within its sheets . Its most dramatic example of glacier retreat is the loss of large sections of the Larsen Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula . The recent collapse of Wordie Ice Shelf , Prince Gustav Ice Shelf , Mueller Ice Shelf , Jones Ice Shelf , Larsen @-@ A and Larsen @-@ B Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula has raised awareness of how dynamic ice shelf systems are . 
