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Icebergs Sailing Past New Zealand

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the kiwi-smoothie dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A fleet of icebergs is heading north from Antarctica and at least one has reached New Zealand, an event that has not occurred in decades. While not necessarily a consequence of global warming it is very cool!"

5 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. Horseshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    "...an event that has not occurred in decades."


    The same thing happened last year.
    1. Re:Horseshit. by pudro · · Score: 5, Informative

      Mod parent up.

      I know no one read the article, so let me relate this to you from the article:

      "Scientists had said earlier that it was not unusual to see icebergs so far from the Antarctic coastal region"

      The whole point of the article is the danger this poses to ships in the area.

      --
      Freedom is assumed. Then they try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free.
  2. Re:Grammar Nazi. by Suertreus · · Score: 4, Informative

    A fleet of icebergs ARE heading north from Antarctica.

    Goodness, the Nazi's may have been evil, and they may have had terrible aim (as per the Stormtrooper Effect), but they weren't incompetent.
    "Fleet" is singular, thus a fleet of icebergs IS heading north. You wouldn't say that the same fleet 'are' heading north, would you?

  3. Re:Why would it? by alphabetsoup · · Score: 3, Informative

    Icebergs are natural, icebergs so far up north aren't. The chief reason why this indicates global warming is to sail this far up north, the sea surrounding the iceberg must have been cooler than usual. This can only happen if more and more ice is melting from the iceberg, which reduces the temperature of the ocean current, enabling the iceberg to move further north without melting.

    This may sound counterintuitive, global warming reducing ocean temperature, but it actually isn't. Global warming means increase of the average temperature of the earth, not that of a particular region.

  4. Re:Why would it? by saforrest · · Score: 3, Informative
    You know what else alters ice distribution around the poles? The fact that it is summer in the southern hemisphere.

    Oh, for God's sake. It's a verifiable fact that significant amounts of Antarctic ice that have never been thawed in recorded human history are now gone. See for example this article:

    The Larsen A ice shelf, which measured 1,600 sq km, broke off in 1995. The 1,100 sq km Wilkins ice shelf fell off in 1998 and the 13,500 sq km Larsen B dropped away in 2002.

    Though if you seriously think every person complaining about global warming is too stupid to know when it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere, then I don't think it's worth expending much effort talking to you.