Ice Shelf Breaks Off In Arctic

Scientists Say Climate Change Is Major Reason For The 'Dramatic And Disturbing Event'

(AP)  A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said Thursday, citing climate change as a "major" reason for the event.

The Ayles Ice Shelf — 41 square miles of it — broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic.

Scientists discovered the event by using satellite imagery. Within one hour of breaking free, the shelf had formed as a new ice island, leaving a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake.

Warwick Vincent of Laval University, who studies Arctic conditions, traveled to the newly formed ice island and was amazed at the sight.

"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years," Vincent said. "We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead."

The ice shelf was one of six major shelves remaining in Canada's Arctic. They are packed with ancient ice that is more than 3,000 years old. They float on the sea but are connected to land.

Some scientists say it is the largest event of its kind in Canada in 30 years and that climate change was a major element.

"It is consistent with climate change," Vincent said, adding that the remaining ice shelves are 90 percent smaller than when they were first discovered in 1906. "We aren't able to connect all of the dots ... but unusually warm temperatures definitely played a major role."

Laurie Weir, who monitors ice conditions for the Canadian Ice Service, was poring over satellite images in 2005 when she noticed that the shelf had split and separated.

Weir notified Luke Copland, head of the new global ice lab at the University of Ottawa, who initiated an effort to find out what happened.

Using U.S. and Canadian satellite images, as well as seismic data — the event registered on earthquake monitors 155 miles away — Copland discovered that the ice shelf collapsed in the early afternoon of Aug. 13, 2005.

Copland said the speed with which climate change has effected the ice shelves has surprised scientists.

"Even 10 years ago scientists assumed that when global warming changes occur that it would happen gradually so that perhaps we expected these ice shelves just to melt away quite slowly," he said.

Derek Mueller, a polar researcher with Vincent's team, said the ice shelves get weaker as temperatures rise. He visited Ellesmere Island in 2002 and noticed that another ice shelf had cracked in half.

"We're losing our ice shelves and this a feature of the landscape that is in danger of disappearing altogether from Canada," Mueller said.

Within days of breaking free, the Ayles Ice Shelf drifted about 30 miles offshore before freezing into the sea ice. A spring thaw may bring another concern: that warm temperatures will release the new ice island from its Arctic grip, making it an enormous hazard for ships.

"Over the next few years this ice island could drift into populated shipping routes," Weir said.

[jimfinster]

aardbear:

I was trying to make a point about skeptics. That may have gone whizzing over your head.

I have positions on many subjects, based on study of the best set of available facts. I will leave belief to others.

You see, that is the tremendous thing about science that you missed during your 200 hrs of study. You don't need to believe, as the facts will take care of themselves. And yes, there are absolute facts on any subject, including global warming.

[jimfinster]

aardbear:

I like skeptics. So let's also apply that to your belief in God. Don't you think more studies are called for? After all, there could be many other explanations, just like the other explanations listed here for the ice shelf failing. Can you prove that the Bible is from God? An alternate theory is that it was created in order to create and hold followers that will pay 10% to the priests (er, I mean God).

[jimfinster]

aardbear:

"You cannot make a profit selling God's truth."


Well, I think a lot of televangelist driving Mercedes and living in mansions would disagree :)

[razmatazchaz]

reasnmclucus: "I realize many ultraconservatives believe climate should stay the same year after year, but climate has always been dynamic with warming and cooling cycles."

Ok, good point. Life is change. So what's the big deal? Climate change is happening. Always has and always will.

Yeah. But not at this rate. In terms of geologic time, an explosion event is occuring here, and explosion event that humans are causing. Problem is, this explosion event is outside the range of human awareness. There's the irony. Humans are empowered enough with just enough savy so as to casue this explosion, but we're not capable of being aware of it. At least no viscerally. To be aware of this explosion, we need that puny little part of our brain we use for reasoning. Reason needs a voice here and it needs it sooner than later.

It's time for humanity to grow up. Bottom line, if we want the goodies of technology, we have to step up to the plate of managing their consequences responsibly.

[thgdriver]

I read all the time how the Scientists can tell the past by drilling ice cores, they have said they were able to tell whats been going on for "millions" of years. What a crock of shi! that turns out to be.

I quote them here---
"climate change has effected the ice shelves has surprised scientists".


By the way, all this cra$ is paid for with my tax dollar with grants to universities. Turns out I might as well flush my tax dollar down the toilet.

[thgdriver]

"Even 10 years ago scientists "assumed" that when global warming changes occur that it would happen gradually so that perhaps we expected these ice shelves just to melt away quite slowly, "Copland said the speed with which climate change has effected the ice shelves has "surprised" scientists.

Looks to me like they were guessing/assuming 10 years ago and they are still guessing/assuming today.

Chicken little would be proud of all these tree huggers.

[jimfinster]

There is a MOUNTAIN of evidence that global warming is ocurring. Fine, go ahead and come up with alternate theories about why the ice shelf collapsed. Then start working on your alternate theories for all the other lines of converging evidence!

Most of us with any scientific background are way past this "is not/is too" argument. The discussion now is about the effect that global warming will have on various ecosystems and the human race, and what preventive measures (if any)can be taken.

For those of you who continue to deny the reality of this issue: you are either wrapped up in some philosophical position, and/or you simply do not understand the science involved.

[reasnmclucus]

Ice shelves fall off because they have been undermined by warm water, not because of changes in air temperature. As the distance from the bottom of the shelf to the water increases, the portion of the shelf connected to whatever it breaks off of becomes thinner and eventually cannot support the weight of the shelf.

The flow of warm water into the Arctic has increased in recent years with the flow causing a slight decrease in sea surface temperatures. Warm water melts ice from the bottom up causing a gap between the water and the bottom of the ice. As more snow falls the height of the ice increases resulting in more stress on the connection to other ice or land. Warm air would melt ice from the top down and ice would continue to be supported by the water below.

I realize many ultraconservatives believe climate should stay the same year after year, but climate has always been dynamic with warming and cooling cycles. The climate in Alaska was once much warmer than it is now and could become so again. Areas of Europe are warmer than areas of North America of the same distance from the North Pole because the Gulf Stream carries heat energy along the western European coast. An increase in warm air/water circulation from the tropics to Alaska could cause it to become warmer.

[razmatazchaz]

"Nobody is going to be able to convince me global warming exists."

Bravo for your independence of mind, Int1. All I ask is that you look into the science and the evidence with an open honest mind.

Granted, atmospheric CO2 doesn't exert a huge influence on climate over the short haul. That subtle influence is easily swamped by just the regular noise of the climate system. Thing is, a smallesh steady influence on a very large system over a very long time has consequences. Naturally, anything we do has consequences. I'm not suggesting that the existance of consequences to our actions should paralyze us. It should, however, affect public policies to the extent these consequences cost the public moeny. Science may be kind of boring to some, but money might get one's attention. Insurance companies take this serously, and they're not given to fanciful flights of baseless fears. Some Bitish economists have recently crunched some numbers on costs this century of global warming. It's something along the lines the combined costs of our great depression of the 1930s and of WWs I and II. It's a lot of dollars, and it's a whole lot of needless avoidable human misery.

This isn't out to scare you. This is a simple appeal to your character and to your intelligence.

[intn1]

Nobody is going to be able to convince me global warming exists. If the overall temperature of the earth is up, and it may be by just a few degrees, let's consider there are 6 billion people worth of body heat everywhere. Global warming is a great scare tactic for the environmentalists to get exactly what they want. I like the environment, I do my share to take care of it, but I'm not going to be scared or bullied.

[jimfinster]

razmatazchaz:

Excellent post. The problem is that most people do not have the scientist education to understand this issue. So they fall back on their philosophical positions, which really have nothing to do with the set of facts at hand.

[razmatazchaz]

Human caused global warming is not a wild theory. The physics is straightforeward. The physics works. I can prove that the physics works. I can show you a reliable instrument based upon it. It's called an infrared gas analyzer, or IRGA. It gives you a reading in parts per million, ppm, of CO2 concentration within an air sample. It works on the principle that CO2 is slightly more opague at infrared wavelengths than at other wevelengths. This is also the very same principle on which human caused global warming is occurring. Is occurring. Not will maybe someday occur. Is occurring. Today.

Another thing about IRGAs. Anyone who has been anywhere near an IRGA over the years knows for a fact that atmospheric CO2 has been steadily rizing. This isn't from volcanoes. This is from people. This is just a plain old fact about which there is no ambiguity.

You want to know a wild theory, I'll tell you a wild theory. Consider the theory that humans can alter CO2 concentration within our atmosphere and this has no consequences. What's the physics behind that theory? Where's the evidence for that theory? There's a wild theory for you by which some people delude themselves for their own self-serving reasons.

[drinuk]

This planet as been continually changing for thousands of years and will continue to do so. The rubbish talked about global warming is fast becoming boring. Of course there will be change but as we develop we will learn to cope and survive. So this ice shelf as been there for 3000 years, the surprise is that it stayed in place for that amount of time. These "Boffins" have to justify their exsistence from time to time, just like they keep coming up with cancer cures which we never hear of again. Whackie ! all of 'em.

[zykracosmos]

The Sky May Not Be Falling, But It Certainly Is Heating Up! (Part 3)
Skeptics accuse scientists of pandering for grant money, but industries are spending millions on disinformation campaigns. Al Gore pushes for government incentives for investment in energy alternatives. Meanwhile, Big Oil added billions in tax breaks to record profits.
Americans produce about 25% of the world%u2019s greenhouse gasses, but technological solutions are available right now. Hybrids could cut auto emissions in half. Walmart plans energy savings with solar panels and wind generators.
Last year was the hottest on record. This year even hotter. The sky may not be falling, but it is certainly heating up.

[zykracosmos]

The Sky May Not Be Falling, But It Certainly Is Heating Up! (Part 2)
A British expedition in Greenland discovered that ice is melting 10 times faster than calculated. Not only are ice shelfs in the Arctic breaking off, colossal ice sheets in Antarctica are collapsing. The melting of all land-based ice would raise oceans by more than 200 feet!
Melting permafrost in the north is releasing methane trapped for thousands of years, and warming oceans may release even more.
The rate of temperature increase makes it impossible for many species to adapt. Drowning is the chief cause of death among polar bears, as sea ice becomes scarce. Bleaching is killing the world%u2019s coral reefs.
Recent hurricanes correspond with a measured increase in the energy of these storms over the past 25 years.
Drought-related forest fires have destroyed 40 million acres of spruce forest in Alaska. The Hadley Institute predicts the Amazon rainforest will become a desert.
There are predictions of sustained drought for food-producing regions such as the Midwest, like what is occurring this year. Malaria, dengue, and yellow fever will spread, and a global pandemic from a mutated virus is likely.

[zykracosmos]

The Sky May Not Be Falling, But It Certainly Is Heating Up! (Part 1)
I am intrigued how writers with no background on the subject assail hard science.
What is all the fuss about? Gasses in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, help stabilize Earth%u2019s temperature. Celestial events can spur dramatic climate shifts, causing fluctuations in gas levels. Lower CO2 levels correlate with ice ages, and when glaciers extend below 300 latitude, runaway cooling from reflected sunlight can freeze the planet to the equator.
Runaway warming produced tropical conditions in the Arctic with higher CO2 levels, revealed by seabed cores dating back millions of years. Since the industrial revolution, CO2 levels have risen by 30% to 358 parts per million, the highest concentration ever.
Records show that surface temperatures have risen about 1.40F since the early 20th century, and about 0.90 just since 1978. Industrial soot camouflaged the strength of warming from the 1940%u2019s %u2013 1970%u2019s.
Hidden triggers in the climate system, called %u201Cpositive feedbacks,%u201D make it difficult to predict extremes, but climatologists agree a dangerous experiment has begun.
Arctic ice reflects 70% of sunlight, but by 2050 ice-free summers will absorb more heat. Freshwater intrusion may shut down the Gulf Stream and freeze Europe.

[realvoiceusa]

We have only had the technology that you are screaming at for less than 170 years. Heck, this very electronic forum didn't exist as little as ten years ago. Just as we have invented this technology to become as 'advanced' as a civilization as we are today, in the same manner we will discover, develop, and improve our technology in the future to avoid all the "chicken little scenarios" that Al Gore and his ilk have proclaimed. True, people will always come up with reasons to avoid technology (eyeglasses vs. lasik) or use politico-driven conspiracies to scare the innovators (stem cell research vs right to lifers) but in the end INNOVATION and INVENTION happens. Relax, smoke, drive and use your cell phone! Happy New Years to all!

[RedRobin1]

This is scary stuff, yet unfortunately a lot of people take it lightly still. I still get an impression of people hiding their heads in the sand, of the Earth still being so big that nothing will ever ruin it all and that it is all just a bunch of boring hype about global warming.
I do what I can to help. We planted 250 pine trees here on our farm and have stopped cutting a lot of the pastures to let it go back to the Earth and its creatures. I also walk a lot when I can and have been switching to those fluorescent light bulbs that last for years and use less electricity. We recycle a lot, too. A lot of the problem it seems is that there are just too many people. Every good wild space is being ruin in one way or another and the sheer amount of vehicles on the roads defeats efforts to help curb pollution.
We are so many years behind in where we should be with all this. And yet people still don't tend to believe it all.

[jimfinster]

i_am_emac: "The albany times union did a great article about the hype about a month ago in a sunday edition, and if you do know how to read, try State of Fear, by Michael Cryton"

That is pathetic, i_am_emac. Don't you realize that Michael Crichton is a FICTION WRITER, and the referenced book is a FICTION NOVEL? Jeez!

[ana-dale-2009]

How far is Heaven? I want to know. Dale