Image Courtesy Of NASA, via Jason Box, Ohio State University
An “ice island” the size of 4 Manhattans broke away from Greenland on Thursday, heralding renewed calls for action from global warming advocates. The huge 100 square mile ice sheet is causing concern as it is heading towards shipping lanes. It is currently adrift in an area called the Nares Strait, about 600 miles south of the North Pole.
According to Professor Andreas Muenchow of the University of Delaware, it is the largest Arctic iceberg to calve away from the main ice sheet since 1962. The iceberg was expected to form after cracks were reported in the ice sheet last year, but the scale of the breakaway was not anticipated.
To give an indication of the volume of the ice involved, the Professor noted that there was enough water in the iceberg to “keep all US public tap water flowing for 120 days”.
“In Nares Strait, the ice island will encounter real islands that are all much smaller in size,” Muenchow stated. “The newly-born ice island may become land-fast, block the channel, or it may break into smaller pieces as it is propelled south by the prevailing ocean currents. From there, it will likely follow along the coasts of Baffin Island and Labrador, to reach the Atlantic within the next two years.”
There may be a benefit to the calving of ice on this scale. Patrick Lockerby, a UK engineer suggested that the ice may block the Nares Straight, and if frozen in place, could prevent the loss of more ice from the Lincoln Sea.
Although it is not clear if the breakaway represents more evidence of global warming, it comes in a year that scientists have delared the hottest in global records.
