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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- | |
| Giant iceberg could change weather patterns | |
| 2010-02-25 | |
| AN iceberg the size of Luxembourg knocked loose from the Antarctic continent earlier this month could disrupt the ocean currents driving weather patterns around the globe, researchers said. While the impact would not be felt for decades or longer, a slowdown in the production of colder, dense water could result in less temperate winters - 'less temperate' sounds like an each way bet, could be warmer, could be cooler - in the north Atlantic, they said. The 2550 sq km block broke off on February 12 or 13 from the Mertz Glacier Tongue, a 160km spit of floating ice protruding into the Southern Ocean from East Antarctica due south of Melbourne, researchers said. Some 400m thick, the iceberg could fill Sydney Harbour more than 100 times over. It could also disturb the area's exceptionally rich biodiversity, including a major colony of emperor penguins near Dumont d'Urville, site of a French scientific station, according to the scientists. "The ice tongue was almost broken already. It was hanging like a loose tooth,'' French glaciologist Benoit Legresy said. Mr Legresy has been monitoring the Metz Glacier via satellite images and on the ground for a decade in cooperation with Australian scientists. The billion-tonne mass was dislodged by another, older iceberg, known as B9B, which split off in 1987. Jammed against the Antarctic continent for more than 20 years, B9B smashed into the Metz tongue like a slow-motion battering ram after it began to drift. Both natural cycles and manmade climate change contribute to the collapse ice shelves and glaciers. Even when they admit natural factors could be at work, the MSM still gets it wrong. If the climate were absolutely static for 1,000s of years, Antarctic glaciers would still calve icebergs. Tide and ocean currents constantly beat against exposed areas, while longer summers and rising temperatures also take a toll. "Obviously when there is warmer water, these ice tongues will become more fragile,'' Mr Legresy said. Note the implication that waters are warmer, without actually saying so, because the waters aren't warmer. Since breaking off, the iceberg - along with the newly mobile B9B, which is about the same size - have moved into an adjoining area called a ploynya. There's a word Ive never heard before. Distributed across the Southern Ocean, ploynyas are zones that produce dense water, super cold and rich in salt, that sinks to the bottom of the sea and drives the conveyor-belt like circulation around the globe. Which incidentally works to cool the planet by distributing heat poleward. If these icebergs move east and run aground, or drift north into warmer climes, they will have no impact on these currents. "But if they stay in this area - which is likely - they could block the production of this dense water, essentially putting a lid on the polynya,'' Mr Legresy explained. The Metz Glacier Polynya is particularly strong and accounts for 20 per cent of the "bottom water'' in the world, he added. Eventually, the icebergs will die a natural death, but their lifespan depends on where they go. Adrift, they could melt in a could of decades. If they remain lodged against the Antarctic landmass, they could persist far longer.
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| Posted by:phil_b |
| #6 Thx TW That's how I pay for the pleasure of periwinkle ribbons on my pretty clue bat, dear phil_b. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-02-25 23:46 |
| #5 Coming up next: Researchers baffled... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-02-25 23:06 |
| #4 Thx TW |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-02-25 22:24 |
| #3 What's next, a 25 hour day? Yes. And an eight day week. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2010-02-25 21:29 |
| #2 Tide and ocean currents constantly beat against exposed areas, while longer summers and rising temperatures also take a toll. Longer summers? Did I miss a memo or something? Did somebody rearrange the equinoxes? I understand the magnetic pole is moving round, but I didn't think we'd need to start printing new calendars? What's next, a 25 hour day? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2010-02-25 21:06 |
| #1 That was my comment, The usual 'Ifs', "coulds' and 'mights' that pervade so called Climate Science.
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| Posted by: phil_b 2010-02-25 19:49 |