New York City-sized ice collapses off Antarctica

[RB TexLa]

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent – Tue Apr 28, 7:00 pm ET

TROMSOE, Norway (Reuters) – An area of an Antarctic ice shelf almost the size of New York City has broken into icebergs this month after the collapse of an ice bridge widely blamed on global warming, a scientist said Tuesday.

"The northern ice front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has become unstable and the first icebergs have been released," Angelika Humbert, glaciologist at the University of Muenster in Germany, said of European Space Agency satellite images of the shelf.

Humbert told Reuters about 700 sq km (270.3 sq mile) of ice -- bigger than Singapore or Bahrain and almost the size of New York City -- has broken off the Wilkins this month and shattered into a mass of icebergs.

She said 370 sq kms of ice had cracked up in recent days from the Shelf, the latest of about 10 shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula to retreat in a trend linked by the U.N. Climate Panel to global warming.

The new icebergs added to 330 sq kms of ice that broke up earlier this month with the shattering of an ice bridge apparently pinning the Wilkins in place between Charcot island and the Antarctic Peninsula.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090428/ts_nm/us_antarctica_ice_1

[omega minimo]

1. ,

[1776Forever]

2. Why do "they" argue about global warming? What makes the difference if man or God made?

It is happening!

Duh!:scared:

[HamdenRice]

3. They need to start towing them to South Africa & Namibia

For years, South African scientists and entrepreneurs have speculated about the cost effectiveness of towing icebergs to southern Africa where fresh water is in short supply.

Conventional tugs were too expensive in terms of fuel.

But new technology has opened up a really radical possibility -- computer controlled kites to guide the icebergs north to Africa.