Community | February 26, 2010 | 59 comments

Two huge icebergs let loose off Antarctica's coast

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/ap-on_sc/as_australia_icebergs

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JanforGore
Mammoth iceberg could alter ocean circulation AFP .

SYDNEY – An iceberg about the size of Luxembourg that struck a glacier off Antarctica and dislodged another massive block of ice could lower the levels of oxygen in the world's oceans, Australian and French scientists said Friday.

The two icebergs are now drifting together about 62 to 93 miles (100 to 150 kilometers) off Antarctica following the collision on Feb. 12 or 13, said Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young.

"It gave it a pretty big nudge," Young said of the 60-mile (97-kilometer) -long iceberg that collided with the giant floating Mertz Glacier and shaved off a new iceberg. "They are now floating right next to each other."

The new iceberg is 48 miles (78 kilometers) long and about 24 miles (39 kilometers) wide and holds roughly the equivalent of a fifth of the world's annual total water usage, Young told The Associated Press.

Experts are concerned about the effect of the massive displacement of ice on the ice-free water next to the glacier, which is important for ocean currents.

This area of water had been kept clear because of the glacier, said Steve Rintoul, a leading climate expert. With part of the glacier gone, the area could fill with sea ice, which would disrupt the ability for the dense and cold water to sink.

This sinking water is what spills into ocean basins and feeds the global ocean currents with oxygen, Rintoul explained.

As there are only a few areas in the world where this occurs, a slowing of the process would mean less oxygen supplied into the deep currents that feed the oceans.

"There may be regions of the world's oceans that lose oxygen, and then of course most of the life there will die," said Mario Hoppema, chemical oceanographer at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany.
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59 comments // Two huge icebergs let loose off Antarctica's coast

  • maka_wave
  • JanforGore
  • Eddie_Miller
    • -1
      Eddie_Miller  

    • lets keep it up everyone. talk about saving the planet but continue to drive your polluting cars, buy the same products built by factories who pollute. Talk talk talk talk talk that's all anyone does.

      W/e i hate earth anyways. DOWN WITH PLANET EARTH

    • 2 years ago
  • Progresshiv
  • fun_size
  • ChunkyCheezes
  • HellastOne
  • dankfraily
    • +3
      dankfraily  

    • @ rodstradamus
      I've actually had someone argue with me that the sky is in fact not blue, but a shade of green. They believed it with all their being and even had some compelling arguments. That doesn't mean that the sky is not blue.
      The sun does not go around the earth, and the moon is not made out of cheese. Its time to research all the facts and not the ones that are convenient to your beliefs. Look at what janforgore posted below. theres millions more like that.
      Climate change is real. Humans do contribute. How much is up to debate, but how can you argue that in a finite space (our atmosphere) you will never run out of room to throw noxious and toxic elements out? Think of a burning cigarette in a balloon. How long until the air is all smoke?
      I think we should really simplify the climate change debate down to pollution. Even for the most ardent climate change doubters, its impossible to refute the amount of polluting industrialized nations and all of us citizens comit. Ever bit of that pollution contributes to this mess we are in.
      We have the oportunity to fix this. The technology is out there. Whats more important money or clean water and air?

    • 2 years ago
  • 1_JohnSmith
    • 0
      1_JohnSmith  
    • dankfraily:

      Money is most important. The profits from new technologies to produce energy if far to low if compared with the profits currently earned by "conventional" technologies.
      Therefore it is not possible to fix it anymore.
      Time is against us.

    • 2 years ago
  • dankfraily
    • +1
      dankfraily  
    • 1_JohnSmith:

      Your argument is flawed. just because energy from renewable resources are not as profitable does not mean that it is "impossible" to fix the problem. Merely inconvenient. A paradigm shift needs to be fully conducted. All too often it is said that we can't or that something is seemingly impossible. That is not what made this country, nor what seperated homo sapiens from austrolipithicus. We need to take all the time and energy wasted on saying we cant and use it to find solutions. Evolve or become extinct

    • 2 years ago
  • dankfraily
    • +1
      dankfraily  
    • 1_JohnSmith:

      I just can't be that self defeatest. Your argument seems to reinforce the notion that as soon as a child is capable of taking their own life they should, for they will die eventually anyway. "time is against us"
      stop finding the problems and look toward the solutions

    • 2 years ago
  • tommic
    • 0
      tommic  
    • dankfraily:

      Hydrogen, the ultimate answer. The problen lies at this time with the energy needed to create hydrogen is greater than produced. This is quite simply a technological challange that will be overcome with enough money for research invested. Its painfully obvious that big coal and big oil have no interest in being part of a clean energy revolution. This will require the federal government to start and fund the development of a process to extract hydrogen from water using less energy than produced until the hydrogen itself can fuel its own manufacturing. We will then be fossil fuel free, energy independent with an ever expanding economy because of it. Thats the way of the future if we in the words of Phil Knight.
      JUST DO IT!!

    • 2 years ago
  • keithponder
  • s_peak
    • 0
      s_peak  
    • tommic:

      are people STILL talking about hydrogen?! Seriously... hydrogen is no good. MAYBE it could be used in some kind of future "water battery" as a supplement to other MUCH MORE VIABLE technologies, but hydrogen is definitely not the answer.

      We have a GIANT energy source that's rains enough energy on the planet to power the entire thing a couple times over every day. It's call "the sun". It's new, so I don't expect people to have heard of it... but if you eliminate the need to MAKE fuel and just use the incredibly abundant source that's all around us constantly, then you eliminate the middle man, which also helps keep it honest. This is a unique state of energy, and will ALWAYS be more efficient when weighed against fuels that we create ourselves.

      Exactly what we DON'T want is more fuel plants opening up and ripping apart our water. Because guess who will own those plants? The same assholes that currently have a stranglehold on our power. The same assholes keeping solar panel research and the solar market from fully blooming. Industry like that is moving in the wrong direction. Solar panels are getting more efficient and cheaper every year... not to mention the other alternatives... wave generators, wind, etc.

      In our future... the current proliferation of toxins being dumped into our air by the oil giants may block out the sun, but there are many alternatives and non of them have to involve hydrogen. On the contrary... if we ignore the sun, we are making a huge mistake.

    • 2 years ago
  • jhon213236
    • +2
      jhon213236  

    • Well................nobody to blame but-ourselves for the shit hole we have dug ourselves in

      If the world dies, i hope im not alive in it. A world with only twinkies will suck!

    • 2 years ago
  • TypicalStereotype
    • +3
      TypicalStereotype  

    • So....no one gets why this is significant?
      Why am i not surprised?

      Oh hey, by the way...
      There was another catastrophic earthquake outside your bubble.

      Why am I not surprised?

    • 2 years ago
  • Argon18
  • Ihatethemall
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • The article said this has been a long, slow process. I'm not sure how this changes the oxygen level? Is the oxygen leaving with the ice or being expelled by evaporation?
      Does it change the lifeforms underneath. The life forms within the icebergs are still there but may experience thawing to different state of water?
      Will the life under the location change because of exposure to the sun? Would the sun cause some life to grow and absorb some of the CO2?
      Russia, China and Germany are already reaping financial rewards from the opening up of the Northern east passage. They are looking at the opportunities. I'm sure other countries are ready to do the same here.

    • 2 years ago
  • antidmv
    • 0
      antidmv  

    • Meh, just as long as they dont kill off the plankton (plytoplankton to be more accurate). SINCE they are the source of Oxygen on the land. So...i wouldnt understand why everyone is making this big deal outta it..

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
  • Juas
  • tommic
    • +4
      tommic  

    • Just alittle more edification
      Ice shelves are retreating in the southern section of the Antarctic Peninsula due to climate change. This could result in glacier retreat and sea-level rise if warming continues, threatening coastal communities and low-lying islands worldwide.

      Research by the U.S. Geological Survey is the first to document that every ice front in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula has been retreating overall from 1947 to 2009, with the most dramatic changes occurring since 1990. The USGS previously documented that the majority of ice fronts on the entire Peninsula have also retreated during the late 20th century and into the early 21st century.
      The ice shelves are attached to the continent and already floating, holding in place the Antarctic ice sheet that covers about 98 percent of the Antarctic continent. As the ice shelves break off, it is easier for outlet glaciers and ice streams from the ice sheet to flow into the sea. The transition of that ice from land to the ocean is what raises sea level.

      “This research is part of a larger ongoing USGS project that is for the first time studying the entire Antarctic coastline in detail, and this is important because the Antarctic ice sheet contains 91 percent of Earth’s glacier ice,” said USGS scientist Jane Ferrigno. “The loss of ice shelves is evidence of the effects of global warming. We need to be alert and continually understand and observe how our climate system is changing.”

      The Peninsula is one of Antarctica’s most rapidly changing areas because it is farthest away from the South Pole, and its ice shelf loss may be a forecast of changes in other parts of Antarctica and the world if warming continues.

      Retreat along the southern part of the Peninsula is of particular interest because that area has the Peninsula’s coolest temperatures, demonstrating that global warming is affecting the entire length of the Peninsula.

      The Antarctic Peninsula’s southern section as described in this study contains five major ice shelves: Wilkins, George VI, Bach, Stange and the southern portion of Larsen Ice Shelf. The ice lost since 1998 from the Wilkins Ice Shelf alone totals more than 4,000 square kilometers, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

      The USGS is working collaboratively on this project with the British Antarctic Survey, with the assistance of the Scott Polar Research Institute and Germany’s Bundesamt fűr Kartographie und Geodäsie. The research is also part of the USGS Glacier Studies Project, which is monitoring and describing glacier extent and change over the whole planet using satellite imagery

    • 2 years ago
  • corndog67
  • feefer2010
  • rodstradamus
    • -6
      rodstradamus  
    • Image

    • Its summer in the southern Hemisphere. That's the time when icebergs in the South Pole melt and break off. They reform in the winter, our summer.

      Next are you going to show a picture of trees in autumn without leaves and tell us that the forest is dying? It has nothing to do with CO2. Your eco-fascist propaganda isn't saving the environment.

      Climate changes and its not because of human activity...its the SUN! Ever heard of it? How about the New World Order? They're eugenicists bankers and aristocrats who want to kill you after they steal your money with a carbon tax. Do some research.
      http://current.com/items/92230728_leaked-un-docs-reveal-plan-for-green-world-ord...

    • 2 years ago
  • unimatrix0
  • Argon18
    • +4
      Argon18  
    • rodstradamus:

      Next you'll say that icebergs "about the size of Luxembourg" break off every summer and refreeze? It's all about the facts in the proper context.

      Just because some poor solutions have been proposed doesn't mean that denying the problem would help in any way.

      Why not put more effort into devising more efficient solutkions instead? I would be a whole lot more effective.

    • 2 years ago
  • rodstradamus
    • -3
      rodstradamus  
    • Image
    • unimatrix0:

      I know, the Sun, how crazy to think that it affects temps. Speaking of the matrix; try breaking out of it for once. Also, use more effective responses, instead of ad hominem. It makes you look bad and takes away from debating the facts. You don't want to debate facts...do you? If so, here's some research so you can brush up.
      http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/

    • 2 years ago
  • locutus
  • rodstradamus
    • -3
      rodstradamus  
    • locutus:

      Ok, "Star Trek geek, liberal, progressive." I love it when yuppie flakes try to act tough. It brings more people to my page. To everyone out there, I don't character assassinate or use ad hominem to make my point.

      I'm not out here getting "scorned and ridiculed" b/c I want to make enemies. I was a skeptic, but being open-minded and real, I did the research (was so tough to get rid of my tv and change my brainwashed habits) and found out that the New World Order is definitely a conspiracy to introduce a global corporate dictatorship and much more sinister things as well. The Global Warming Scam is a big part of it.

      Since then, after going through some emotional stages of realization: anger, fear, etc., I now live a healthier, more positive and prioritized life. Knowledge is power and the truth will set you free, for most, that's a start. Many have woken up after watching Fall of the Republic; for me it was the Committee of 300 by Dr. John Coleman.

      Bring the hate, the ridicule and the scorn; I'll just keep bringing the articles, links, the vids and the Truth. 9/11 Truth!
      http://current.com/items/92227787_9-11-truth-uprising-we-are-change.htm

    • 2 years ago
  • keviar
  • tommic
    • +1
      tommic  
    • rodstradamus:

      Yo, did you know the earth has been experiencing the warmest years on record during a solar minimum the solar maximum starts in 2011 if it was the sun we'd be fuc d
      More stupid posts CO2 has nothing to do with it ??
      the statements here attest to the clear lack of intelligence by so many people its scary

    • 2 years ago
  • dankfraily
  • rebelution07
    • +1
      rebelution07  
    • rodstradamus:

      I totally agree with you, its not CO2 that's causing these changes, its the sun. Al Gore and Maurice Strong's global warming movement is a huge scam, its all about carbon credits and money.
      Maurice Strong is still hiding out in China..

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
  • stuburns
  • Armageddon_Now
  • dalistuff
  • kilo88
  • Armageddon_Now
  • Dejan_Croatia
  • WeBelieve
  • DEM46
    • -4
      DEM46  

    • Yes, there is not a lot of hope out there for our world. But, I'm sure humans aren't causing this, it's just naturally happening at a furious pace.

      Totally giving up is not the answer. This is what many are doing when they say it's too late. It may be although we must make a difference where we can and keep trying. I would hate to be labeled as those humans who did nothing when something was better than the alternative.

      It does tend to suck though!

    • 2 years ago
  • 1_JohnSmith
    • -2
      1_JohnSmith  
    • DEM46:

      Facts speak its own iceberg cold truth: as more people successive will afford the so called decent living conditions our energy comsumption will increase exponentially. It is no way such amount of energy could be produced in a "clean"manner.

    • 2 years ago
  • Argon18
  • dankfraily
    • 0
      dankfraily  
    • 1_JohnSmith:

      Why not? why can't we produce only clean energy? Is that the attitude that allowed the brave souls of the 1500s to sail across the ocean eventhough every told them they'd fall off the earth. It that the attitude that allowed us to break into the industrial revolution. is that what founded this country or broughts mankind to the moon? Humans can do anything so long as we allow ourselves to do it

    • 2 years ago
  • 1_JohnSmith
    • 0
      1_JohnSmith  
    • dankfraily:

      Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion.

      Here we have two objects or systems: our current economical system inertia and the earth geophysical system inertia which needs to be first stopped and threafter change course.

      The volumes behind these two systems are huge and that makes them out of human control.

      You could put the thinks this way for the sake of simplicity: we need plenty of time to move away these two systems eigenfrequency from each other. Unfortunatelly it looks like these two system are currently working on the same common eigenfrequency.

      Mr Fuller did not take into account these volumes and far less the extension of to which his ephemeralization should need to reach. We are not in a world with less than a half billion people any more and some tenth of thousends Ford T cars around us.

      Realism is not pessimism and on this matter we can not allow ourselves to be "naive".

    • 2 years ago
  • lizziehoffman
  • bailey78
  • Eddie_Miller
  • 1_JohnSmith
    • -1
      1_JohnSmith  

    • Is it still anybody out there who does not understand that it is already far too late? The reversal of current level of climate change is not possible any more.
      Equilibrium is damaged beyond repair. Face it.

    • 2 years ago
  • Saladin
  • JanforGore
    • +14
      JanforGore  

    • I don't want to belabor this, just to say, the information is out here. Please read it free from political influence and think of your childlren and those you love when you do. It matters not what your politics are, the changes occurring in our world REGARDLESS of what is causing it WILL change the relationship we have with this planet and are already threatening the web of life. But despite this, it can be a time in our history as a species when we rise above it to do what we must do to preserve the delicate balance of our planet for future generations that will also be healthier and safer choices. And though it may sound corny to some, the questions future generations will ask about our action or inaction WILL come. What will your answer be?

      I know what our answer regarding government should be: THEY FAILED US.

    • 2 years ago
  • unimatrix0
  • JanforGore
    • +8
      JanforGore  

    • http://current.com/items/88915764_gulf-stream-has-slowed-30-in-the-last-twelve-y...

      According to this report, the Gulf Stream has slowed 30% in the last twelve years. And this is exactly the point in discussing the unusal snow events the Northeast US is experiencing this winter. It definitely has to do with ocean currents and the amount of freshwater from melting glaciers mixing with salt water. For me, this is the urgent aspect of global warming because this not only effects ocean currents which can effect climate drastically, it also endangers much of the marinelife in the oceans. We simply have to STOP making this some partisan political point to just yell at each other about to score points!

      THIS IS REAL.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
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