New Canadian Ward Hunt Ice break up

[mezzacyclone]

News Daily link

Any views on the further decline of this Ice shelf that started in the 1930`s?

"Whatever has kept this ice shelf in balance for 3,000 years is no longer keeping it in balance," ?

[Mondy]

3000 years? Do they have satelitte data/images to back this up? Proof?

Besides, a breakup is a natural occurance - it's healthy - and will grow again. Nature is amazing!

[acbrixton]

3000 years? Do they have satelitte data/images to back this up? Proof?

Besides, a breakup is a natural occurance - it's healthy - and will grow again. Nature is amazing!

No Mr DXR, they have, apparently carbon-dated driftwood caught in the ice to back up the estimate of 3000 years.

regards

ACB

[Gray-Wolf]

It would seem that this area of the world is now rapidly ablating. The major worry has to be the impact on the lands behind the shelf (up to 90 miles back from it!) whose climate was impacted by the presence of the ice. The Siberian coast has suffered in a similar way when it's 'land fast' ice disappeared a few years back. The land that was held in place as permafrost is now moving, via solufluction, into the river/streams and out into the sea. During the process the methane which was held in the permafrost is released and we all know that this is not good due to it's GHG properties.

For those who maintain that this is 'normal' or 'natural' I'd like to remind them that the human population explosion is based upon the relatively 'stable' climatic conditions over the last 150yrs (when the bulk of population was able to grow) so that any departure from this 'stability' will result in dire global consequences for humanity.

[bluecon]

It is normal for the ice to break off and is why there are icebergs. The ice is like a plastic and flows, not a static solid.

[Gray-Wolf]

It is normal for the ice to break off and is why there are icebergs. The ice is like a plastic and flows, not a static solid.

This, of course, is apparent to the most absolute of cryospheric beginners. the fact that the 'experts', in the field, are mooting concerns over such a consistent an ongoing 'collapse' (I believe the current line is " in a climate regime where ice shelf growth is impossible") may even give you, bluecon,cause for reflection......then again you may also tell us to pull on the thermals

[Gray-Wolf]

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- 07/30/08 -- Arctic explorer Will Steger issued the following statement in reaction to news about the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf break off:

"In 40 years of Arctic exploration, I have never witnessed ice conditions like what I experienced on my March to June 2008 expedition to Ellesmere Island.

"We initially set out to the visit the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf and the Ayles ice island. As confirmed by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center upon our return, we traveled through the ruins of the Arctic Ocean, encountering the remnants of the last ice age that prevented us from traveling to the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. The conditions of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf are drastically different from 1986, where we first launched on the inaugural dogsled mission to the North Pole without resupply.

"With more frequent reports about the break-up of the multiyear ice, it is evident that long-term thaw of Arctic ice has begun. That process is further accelerated by the melting ice and snow, revealing sea water and darker ground that absorbs the sun's rays instead of reflecting them.

"As an eyewitness to the changing topography of the Arctic, I was stunned to see the rapid repercussions of global warming for the region, its wildlife habitat and indigenous cultures. Swift loss of sea ice will considerably alter the landscape of the Polar regions as we know it."

About Will Steger

Will Steger is a polar explorer, educator, activist and author. He has spent more than 45 years traveling through the Arctic regions, advocating for the Earth's preservation and advising on permanent solutions to our climate crisis. Steger has been invited to testify before the United States Congress and has advised world leaders on the environmental protection of Antarctica. Steger is a recipient of many awards including the prestigious John Oliver La Gorce Medal and the National Geographic Adventure Lifetime Achievement Award.

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For us 'armchair explorers' here's a 'horses mouth statement'.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Gray-Wolf

[Gray-Wolf]

and now there goes the Markham shelf on Ellesmere Islands NE coast......

So how long are these 'cyclical' events supposed to be???? Markham has remained intact for at least 4.5 thousand years and it had to 'build' itself before then so maybe 5 thousand years........can't figure any cycle/combination of cycles that has a duration to match.

Maybe the Arctic is just in AGW meltdown eh?

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...72-4a6ec4ba197d

[Snow Queen one]

Well if all this is true and i'm not saying it isn't we are in for a rough ride. We have to ask ourselves is it too late? How long will it take to reverse the effect we have had on this world? and will we still be around when global warming has been reversed.

It is also a shame that the animals living in these environments will die out we have already caused loads of species to become extinct.

I have always said we will destroy our own world and maybe this is the start.

[Gray-Wolf]

We all 'insure' that which is dear to us against the off chance that something bad happens and ,for most of us most of the time, it doesn't happen.

There would appear to be a lot of folk driven to post on here who would rather not contemplate the 'bad things' that might happen if what we have been witnessing, since we first had satellite input, continues to occur.

To me, at least, it would make more sense for us to engage in figuring the changes we should expect if the Polar meltdown continues (as it does year on year) and how best for us all to mitigate the impacts. Instead we get folk wishing to stall beyond the 11th hour (for reasons that continue to allude me) whilst waiting for some miracle turnaround. You would think that they would understand the enormity of change required to regain ice as quickly as we have lost it over the past 15yrs and the impacts that this type of 'climate shift' would generate for us all.

Edited September 6, 2008 by Gray-Wolf