Larsen C Iceberg Breaks Away

[Cold]

That big old chunk of ice in Antarctica that's been threatening to make a bid for freedom for some time has finally set sail. An estimated 6000 sq kms and one trillion tonnes of ice are now floating free with the potential for fragmenting into lots of different pieces bringing about the usual warnings for shipping.

Reuters has one or two good satellite photos

[AshVX220]

Nice to see scientists stating that it's due to natural ice shelf calving and not due to MMCC.

(The Reuters piece does talk about the fast warming in recent decades - presumably to stay on message and lead the readership).

[jmorgan]

Why does Wales also get used for comparison? It seems there are a lot of chunks of forest the size of Wales burning or chunks of some country the size of Wales under water dues to flooding. Now we are going to be blamed for sinking ships.

[FourWheelDrift]

It'll take 2 years to drift northwards far enough, just in time for the Chinese Titanic replica's maiden voyage.

[Roofless Toothless]

jmorgan said:

Why does Wales also get used for comparison? It seems there are a lot of chunks of forest the size of Wales burning or chunks of some country the size of Wales under water dues to flooding. Now we are going to be blamed for sinking ships.

Probably a subconscious wish on the part of many people that it really was Wales burning, flooding or sailing off helplessly into Antarctic waters.

[Simpo Two]

AshVX220 said:

Nice to see scientists stating that it's due to natural ice shelf calving and not due to MMCC.

Agreed; the BBC journo tried to get the scientist to say it was connected to climate change; he said no, it was normal Antarctic behaviour.

Guess he won't be invited back!

[AshVX220]

Simpo Two said:

Agreed; the BBC journo tried to get the scientist to say it was connected to climate change; he said no, it was normal Antarctic behaviour.

Guess he won't be invited back!

Good, I only saw the link above (I can't see BBC TV very easily here).

[FourWheelDrift]

A few news sources claiming 'some scientists' say that if the ice melts it could raise sea levels by up to 10cm (4 inches) it's sea ice though not land ice so surely the level would go down, wouldn't it?

[Simpo Two]

FourWheelDrift said:

A few news sources claiming 'some scientists' say that if the ice melts it could raise sea levels by up to 10cm (4 inches) it's sea ice though not land ice so surely the level would go down, wouldn't it?

Once it's floating, if an iceberg melts the sea level stays the same. However when a bazillion tons of ice moves from land into the sea, that would put the level up.

So the question is 'Where is the ice they are referring to?'

Also note the words 'IF, 'COULD' and 'BY UP TO'. Three weasels in one sentence, which is fairly guaranteed to translate into 'actually highly unlikely'.

[Storer]

Roofless Toothless said:

jmorgan said:

Why does Wales also get used for comparison? It seems there are a lot of chunks of forest the size of Wales burning or chunks of some country the size of Wales under water dues to flooding. Now we are going to be blamed for sinking ships.

Probably a subconscious wish on the part of many people that it really was Wales burning, flooding or sailing off helplessly into Antarctic waters.

Probably because most of us in England hope that Wales will break off from the rest of the UK! It has nothing we need (now) and is only a drain on public finances, so we will not miss it (other than to dump the rain clouds in Wales rather than in England).

A big chunk of ice breaks off Antarctica. Plenty of ice for a G&T then. Very little effect otherwise!

[Wobbegong]

Is there a UAE ship towing it?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-eas...

[Fat Fairy]

Wobbegong said:

Is there a UAE ship towing it?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-eas...

This is quite funny. Back in the day when I was still schooling, the idea of towing an iceberg to the Arabic countries was written as an 'A' Level Physics question.....

FF

[Derek Smith]

Simpo Two said:

AshVX220 said:

Nice to see scientists stating that it's due to natural ice shelf calving and not due to MMCC.

Agreed; the BBC journo tried to get the scientist to say it was connected to climate change; he said no, it was normal Antarctic behaviour.

Guess he won't be invited back!

In the normal course of events the journo would have discussed what they were going to ask before the recording took place. Neither the question nor the answer would have come as a surprise.

[Simpo Two]

Derek Smith said:

In the normal course of events the journo would have discussed what they were going to ask before the recording took place. Neither the question nor the answer would have come as a surprise.

It did to me.

Did you get the message I went out of my way to get to you?