KIDWCKED
08-11-2010, 09:59 PM
c/p from the weather network.
A crack in the glacier before the island broke off
Lyndsay Morrison, staff writer
August 11, 2010 — Scientists say the ice island from a Greenland glacier is part of a broader 'disturbing picture' of global warming.
An ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off a glacier in Greenland last week. And while some scientists say the event is not clear evidence of global warming, many agree that it is part of a broader “disturbing picture.”
The ice island has an area of about 260 square kilometres and a thickness up to half the height of the empire state building.
The ice separated from the tip of the Petermann glacier. While this is a normal process, it is the biggest such event in the Arctic in nearly 50 years.
Robert Bindshadler is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland. He says this event is part of a greater phenomenon of warming that is causing ice sheets to melt and sea levels to rise.
“All the changes that we see taking place and all the changes that the very best climate models say are coming in the future, near future, are going to impact human life on the planet,” Bindshadler said on Tuesday. “We're all going to have to adapt to higher rates of sea level, changes in patterns of precipitation, and it's quite a disturbing picture. You can't, you cannot see that future and not be disturbed.”
Scientists have said the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest globally on record. The El Nino weather pattern is said to have contributed to the higher temperatures.
The ice island will drift and enter a remote place called the Nares Strait, south of the North Pole between Greenland and Canada. The ice island could then fuse to land, break up into smaller pieces, or slowly move south where it could block shipping.
The initial discovery of the calving was made by the Canadian Ice Service.
A crack in the glacier before the island broke off
Lyndsay Morrison, staff writer
August 11, 2010 — Scientists say the ice island from a Greenland glacier is part of a broader 'disturbing picture' of global warming.
An ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off a glacier in Greenland last week. And while some scientists say the event is not clear evidence of global warming, many agree that it is part of a broader “disturbing picture.”
The ice island has an area of about 260 square kilometres and a thickness up to half the height of the empire state building.
The ice separated from the tip of the Petermann glacier. While this is a normal process, it is the biggest such event in the Arctic in nearly 50 years.
Robert Bindshadler is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland. He says this event is part of a greater phenomenon of warming that is causing ice sheets to melt and sea levels to rise.
“All the changes that we see taking place and all the changes that the very best climate models say are coming in the future, near future, are going to impact human life on the planet,” Bindshadler said on Tuesday. “We're all going to have to adapt to higher rates of sea level, changes in patterns of precipitation, and it's quite a disturbing picture. You can't, you cannot see that future and not be disturbed.”
Scientists have said the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest globally on record. The El Nino weather pattern is said to have contributed to the higher temperatures.
The ice island will drift and enter a remote place called the Nares Strait, south of the North Pole between Greenland and Canada. The ice island could then fuse to land, break up into smaller pieces, or slowly move south where it could block shipping.
The initial discovery of the calving was made by the Canadian Ice Service.