As we are beginning to find out, the ice shelves in the Arctic and Antarctic are warning systems of how close we are to real global climate change. As the ice melts in warmer weather, it is not being replaced when the winter temps arrive. As the sheets become thinner, they begin to crack and break off. That’s what happened this week when a 7-square mile chunk of ice broke off of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada’s far north.
It can be argued that the melting of the ice shelves is a natural occurrence that happens in cycles, and that what we are doing to the environment has no real affect on their behavior at all. Others believe that it is our current collective output of CO2 that is causing the warming temperatures and the melting ice. But even so, given the natural cycles of life on the planet, the ice shelves are dissolving at an alarming rate:
Two blocks that broke away from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf near the northern coast of Ellesmere Island are simply the latest loss in the Arctic’s rapidly disappearing mass of thick, ancient ice, said Gary Stern, chief scientist on board the Amundsen Coast Guard vessel.
“When I heard what happened, I am not surprised,” Stern said by satellite telephone.
“The rate we are losing ice is phenomenal. This (climate change) is real,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t understand how fast things are changing up here.” — The Star
The Canadian papers seem to reporting more on the phenomena this week than the rest of the world, maybe this is because it is happening in Canada’s back yard. But it will affect all of us.
The National Post reported on a study by Norwegian climate researcher Ola Johannessen that will be published later this year stating that:
(he had) identified a “strengthening linkage” between the upward trend in CO2 emissions over the past century and the shrinking of the Arctic ice cap, which reached a historic minimum last year and appears headed for similar decreases this summer.
Scientists are also keeping an eye on the Wilkins ice shelf in the Antarctic, which has recently developed large cracks.
Ice Shelves And Climate Change
As we are beginning to find out, the ice shelves in the Arctic and Antarctic are warning systems of how close we are to real global climate change. As the ice melts in warmer weather, it is not being replaced when the winter temps arrive. As the sheets become thinner, they begin to crack and break off. That’s what happened this week when a 7-square mile chunk of ice broke off of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada’s far north.
It can be argued that the melting of the ice shelves is a natural occurrence that happens in cycles, and that what we are doing to the environment has no real affect on their behavior at all. Others believe that it is our current collective output of CO2 that is causing the warming temperatures and the melting ice. But even so, given the natural cycles of life on the planet, the ice shelves are dissolving at an alarming rate:
The Canadian papers seem to reporting more on the phenomena this week than the rest of the world, maybe this is because it is happening in Canada’s back yard. But it will affect all of us.
The National Post reported on a study by Norwegian climate researcher Ola Johannessen that will be published later this year stating that:
Scientists are also keeping an eye on the Wilkins ice shelf in the Antarctic, which has recently developed large cracks.