Green | July 10, 2008 | 12 comments

Argentine natural ice dam bursts for first time in winter

source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h89oY9k6K3ZlehwlTBfKPqSqQmow

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JanforGore
A natural ice dam in southern Argentina broke open spectacularly on Wednesday -- the first time it has burst in winter, prompting experts to say climate change was the reason.

The 60-meter (200-foot) high wall of ice from the Perito Moreno glacier that usually divides Lake Argentina in Patagonia bursts from time to time under the built-up pressure of the held-back water.

The event is one of the prime tourist attractions of Argentina.

But until now it had occurred in warmer seasons.

This year's breaking of the dam was forecast well in advance, though the exact day was unknown, so relatively few visitors -- around 300 -- were on hand to photograph the phenomenon.

Experts' predictions that the rupture could still be days away meant Argentine television stations were caught unprepared and were forced to air images of the last collapse.

An Internet broadcast, however, caught this year's rupture live for an estimated 150,000 viewers.

"It was like an explosion. Everything shook. It was stirring, rousing," one unidentified woman witness said on television.

"I was overjoyed. I didn't know what to do. I screamed and clapped like a crazy person, and I think I even cried," she said.

The glacier's ice dam does not break with any regularity, on average just once every four to six years.

It remained intact for 16 years until the last time it broke, on March 14, 2006, when 10,000 visitors and millions of television viewers watched the awesome show put on by nature.

Los Glaciares National Park director Carlos Corvalan said of the latest breaking of the dam: "This is the first time the glacier has broken up in winter. It could be related to global warming as rising temperatures affects ice friction."

Francisco Ferrando, a geographer and glaciology professor at the University of Chile, said global warming was probably causing the ice dam to become thinner.
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12 comments // Argentine natural ice dam bursts for first time in winter

  • spoonieday
    • 0
      spoonieday  

    • I didn't say that I know it is not caused by global warming and I did not dismiss it. I still don't know either way and neither does anyone else. I just asked if there was any evidence. Asking for evidence is not dismissal. Nothing that I asked was out of line or rude. I merely wanted to know. Science requires us to provide evidence to state something as likely or true. I like to have all the facts, I thought that was the purpose of this site.

      sorry, I just remembered that we aren't allowed to question the party line. i'll keep in line like a good little girl from now on.

    • 3 years ago
  • lfm
  • spoonieday
    • 0
      spoonieday  
    • spoonieday:

      I seriously don't get everyone's animosity to questions. Is this not a place for debate? because it seems to me like it's just a place to make sly comments about each other because we might have slightly differing views.

      lfm, could you clarify your comments because I'm not sure what you are trying to say. I never said anything about water freezing, I merely asked where is the proof that this is attributable to global warming and not just a rare occurence that had not previously observed by scientists. I think that this is a legitimate question and I am not a global warming denier or advocate, merely someone who believes that evidence is warranted before we attribute something to global warming. otherwise, we risk people losing the support of people who have recently begun to pay more attention to these kinds of issues.

      without questions and evidence isn't global warming just a matter of faith?

    • 3 years ago
  • lfm
  • spoonieday
  • lfm
  • spoonieday
  • mrburns
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • How do you know it isn't? You think those who live there don't know that? It also seems 'in vogue' to some to just dismiss it without proof... but that is a fool's errand.

    • 3 years ago
  • spoonieday
    • 0
      spoonieday  

    • How do they know this is the first time that this has happened, as opposed to the first time it happened while white people were paying attention? what proof is there that this was caused by higher temperature, Professor Ferrando says it was probably caused by global warming, but that is not actually evidence.

      It seems to be in vogue now to blame everything on global warming, especially by officials (like Director Corvalan). While I'm not arguing that climate change happens, is it not possible that pollution (increased soot in glaciers causing increased absorption of light) or a change in snowfall patterns leading to a build-up behind the ice-dam?

    • 3 years ago
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