Ice bridge ruptures in Antarctic

bbc ^ | Sunday, 5 April 2009

[JoeProBono]

An ice bridge linking a shelf of ice the size of Jamaica to two islands in Antarctica has snapped. Scientists say the collapse could mean the Wilkins Ice Shelf is on the brink of breaking away, and provides further evidence or rapid change in the region. Sited on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Wilkins shelf has been retreating since the 1990s. Researchers regarded the ice bridge as an important barrier, holding the remnant shelf structure in place.

[classified]

I know that guy too!

[JoeProBono]

Holy Moly!

[LukeL]

It was this penguins fault

[philly-d-kidder]

Maybe one of the USAF laser Planes was messing with the Scientist and just had Target Practice!!

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[FlingWingFlyer]

Great catch! I looked at that and it went right by me.

[libbylu]

No, it is fall. It is minus 84 degrees in Vostok Antarctica, 2 1/2 months until summer.

[AZLiberty]

Where’s the entrepreneur that will tow this up to California and solve their water shortage?

[weldAllday]

<imgsrc=http://www.lazydork.com/movies/coolrunnings.jpg

[weldAllday]

<img src=http://www.lazydork.com/movies/coolrunnings.jpg

[weldAllday]

last try

<imgsrc=http://www.angelfire.com/sk3/cstate/Ducks/Coolrunnings/coolrunnings.jpg

[Daffynition]

[dr_lew]

Here's the ( remnant ) Wilkins Ice Shelf as of yesterday, with Jamaica pasted on for comparison. ( The comparison is not exact because of distortion in these images, but in this case it's pretty close. ) BTW, it's virtually always cloudy there, so this is a pretty good view, as it goes. You can see the two large embayments to the left which over the course of the last several season have pretty much eaten away the ice shelf. The bridge they've been talking about is to the round island at the top. Last year it was very narrow and they thought it would break then. This is not a seasonal change. The Wilkins Ice Shelf had been a permanent structure.

[JoeProBono]

[flowerplough]

Ice Bridge Breakup? Think I saw that movie. Had a whiny, metro-gayish boy mammoth and a fat-sassy girl mammoth and that maladroit sloth and the skrat, didn’t it?

[Wavrnr10]

Probably due the hot air that has been escaping the mouth of Al Gore! Didn’t he invent global warming as well as the internet?

[x_plus_one]

Maybe, with enough global warming, New York and D.C. and Boston and Miama and Seattle and LA and San Fran will get washed away...

No amount of carbon tax will change the sun or the volcanic activity on the ocean floor. We can always hope for the best.

[traderrob6]

For a bit of context....90% of Antarctica has actually been cooling. This particular area which has a more active than usual subterranean oceanic volcano has warmed some. But let's not let the facts get in the way of a good conniption.

[mamelukesabre]

Look on a globe. Jamaica is directly south of cuba. The map is accurate.