Search: Look for:   Last 1 Month   Last 6 Months   All time
Home :: World

Massive pieces of Canada's northern ice shelf floating free in the Arctic Ocean

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 ANI

Ottawa, September 3 (ANI): A team of researchers has reported that massive pieces of Canada's northern ice shelf broke away in early August, and are now floating free in the Arctic Ocean.

 

According to a report in the Globe and mail update, the 50-square-kilometre Markham shelf, located on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, is now floating free in the Arctic ocean along with a larger portion of the Serson shelf.

 

Meanwhile, remnants of the Ward Hunt ice shelf, which attracted international publicity when it collapsed in July, continue to float away from the Ellesmere shore.

 

Collapses like those this summer worry scientists since shelf ice, unlike more ephemeral sea ice, can be as much as 4,500 years old and 40 metres thick.

 

According to Dr. Derek Mueller, the Roberta Bondar Fellow in Northern and Polar Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, recent losses of shelf ice - totaling 214 square kilometers this summer in the Canadian north - are almost certainly the result of global warming.

 

"You just can't have ice shelves in a warm climate," he said. "You can't link any one event to climate change, but we can certainly link patterns," he added.

 

Satellite photographs show that the extent of sea ice around Ellesmere Island has also been significantly reduced. Where once Arctic waters were frozen right up to the edge of the island, there is now a substantial expanse of open water.

 

The news that large pieces of shelf ice have been lost comes just after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's tour of the high Arctic, where he has promised to expand Canada's military presence and boost natural resource exploration. (ANI)

 


LATEST IMAGES
Manohar Lal being presented with a memento
Manoj Tiwari BJP Relief meets the family members of late Ankit Sharma
Haryana CM Manohar Lal congratulate former Deputy PM Lal Krishna Advani on his 92nd birthday
King of Bhutan, the Bhutan Queen and Crown Prince meeting the PM Modi
PM Narendra Modi welcomes the King of Bhutan
Post comments:
Your Name (*) :
Your Email :
Your Phone :
Your Comment (*):
  Reload Image
 
 

Comments:


 

OTHER TOP STORIES


Excellent Hair Fall Treatment
Careers | Privacy Policy | Feedback | About Us | Contact Us | | Latest News
Copyright © 2015 NEWS TRACK India All rights reserved.