Massive ice island drifts toward Canada

www.msnbc.msn.com...

A Manhattan-sized chunk of ice that broke off a glacier in Greenland nearly a year ago is drifting toward the coast of Newfoundland, Canada — providing a stunning sight to scientists and curiosity-seekers but also posing a potential threat to ships.

Its the size of manhattan, guess this heat is really tough this summer. They are saying it could affect shipping. Another titanic maybe, or what if it makes landfall? They say the ice is several hundred thousand years old, and is a few million tons. Check out the video at the website



Also watch the newsvideo:
www.msnbc.msn.com...

WOW

I don't think we can call that an iceberg, its and ice island


that going to be one might bang when it hits the coast

reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL


that cant be good. thank god im in the western interioir of canada. but still theres probably going to be some bad aftermath of this

If I had the money I'd totally go see that!

My family is from Newfoundland (here come the jokes), never been but its a beautiful chunk of land, not it will be even bigger for a while lol. "eh der boy brings me my map, needta-make'a- bit'of'a change!"

WOW! Thank you for posting that - first I have heard of it.

reply to post by OUNjahhryn


Thats pretty cool. It reminds me of the movie, "Day after tommorow." I am a big disaster flick geek, and I know a lot of others here on ATS are as well. This is definitely a rough summer (my car AC does not work makes it even harder). Yea can imagine a big old ice block hitting a coastal city, that would be freaking crazy. You would probably have to put tug boats onto the island and try to stop it from hitting.

I seem to remember a science fiction story (Texas on the Rocks, by Daniel Da Cruz) where they deliberately broke of a block of ice-pack similar to that and towed it to a drought stricken Texas. (IIRC)

It sorta sounds like a good plan to me....

M.

I do realize this may be a dumb question, but I am having trouble realizing what would be the consenquence of this hitting land.

I know that if it drifts southward, it would mean a sudden rise of sea levels around the coasts.

Can anyone explain?

Originally posted by Moshpet
I seem to remember a science fiction story (Texas on the Rocks, by Daniel Da Cruz) where they deliberately broke of a block of ice-pack similar to that and towed it to a drought stricken Texas. (IIRC)

Some guy tried to do that in the 70's

Iceberg Transport International, is considering a plan to find a 100 million-ton iceberg off Antarctica,* wrap it in sailcloth and plastic to slow its melting, and then use powerful tugboats to tow it to the Arabian peninsula, where it would supply enormous quantities of drinking water.

Read more: www.time.com...


and recently

News Image Could a tug bring an iceberg to Africa?

www.workboat.com...

reply to post by RisenAngel77


Probably not much since these things move really slow. It could definitely crush somethings and coastline. If your house is one the beach in Canada near this thing and it is approaching, I would definitely worry. I do not know how much momentum it can carry while hitting land. Its like a frozen tsunami.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
reply to post by RisenAngel77

 

Probably not much since these things move really slow. It could definitely crush somethings and coastline. If your house is one the beach in Canada near this thing and it is approaching, I would definitely worry. I do not know how much momentum it can carry while hitting land. Its like a frozen tsunami.

Aye, but then again it depends largely on how shallow the coasts are, but that could trigger a mini tsunami, but since its moving slow as you mentioned, I doubt it would have much impact.

The only thing that is cause to worry, is the amount of fresh water pouring into the ocean. Which according to some theories, is what could trigger an ice age. But would that island be enough? or would it take much more than that? Judging how the ice caps are melting at a rapid pace, this would just be a droplet compared to whats going on in the north and south poles.

reply to post by RisenAngel77


Well the amount of fresh water coming into the oceans probably might not make much difference with this small thing, but it is the size of Manhattan. If we keep seeing this pattern, then it would be quite interesting. Check out iceberg B-15:

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by RisenAngel77


from the linked article:

It's unlikely the ice island will get too close to shore because it would probably be "grounded" — meaning it would touch the bottom of the ocean — before reaching the coast, Hache said. Nonetheless, it could interfere with shipping lanes and possibly threaten some offshore oil rigs, he said. Advertise | AdChoices But, Hache noted, "a ship going through this water is already watching for icebergs. This one is quite easy to see, so unless you're blind you shouldn't run into this thing."

Hache said there should be no fear of an impending apocalypse.

"Except for navigation I don’t think there will be any threat; it won't ever go too close to shore," he said.

Originally posted by RisenAngel77
I do realize this may be a dumb question, but I am having trouble realizing what would be the consenquence of this hitting land.

I know that if it drifts southward, it would mean a sudden rise of sea levels around the coasts.

Can anyone explain?

It would have little or no effect.. That's even if it reached land, it would probably ground miles from the shore.. Icebergs are generally many times bigger under the water than what is visible above the surface.. The water from it melting, this would probably take years, this would just go into the ocean slowly and would cause no significant rise in sea levels..

The only way this could effect the coast or sea level in this area would be if it melted almost instantly..

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
reply to post by RisenAngel77

 

Probably not much since these things move really slow. It could definitely crush somethings and coastline. If your house is one the beach in Canada near this thing and it is approaching, I would definitely worry. I do not know how much momentum it can carry while hitting land. Its like a frozen tsunami.

Sorry but I have to disagree... You cannot compare this to a tsunami.. It could cause one if it was travelling at a high speed, but this is highly unlikely due to the size of it and the fact it is drifting in the ocean..
Also the probability of reaching land is very slim, as I said in my last post, it would ground a long way from land..
Also the melting would take years if not decades, so again not significant enough to effect those near the coast..

Enough of the fearmongering. You don't worry.. Your Canadian "beachfront" property is not in danger from this..


The only significance to this story is the fact it broke off and I'm sure I don't have to go into details about the worries and dangers of the icecaps melting..

reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL


It looks a lot smaller than they say it is. The camera appears to capture it from one side to another. Look as far left as you can, then as far right, and that certainly isn't close to 3 miles.

Perhaps that isn't supposed to be apparent in the video, the size that is.

May look smaller on the surface but icebergs are roughly 1/3 above water, 2/3 below..

So it is twice as big under water.

Originally posted by connorromanow
reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL

 

that cant be good. thank god im in the western interioir of canada. but still theres probably going to be some bad aftermath of this

I hear ya! I feel I am pretty safe in Saskatchewan. I wonder what would happen if it actually collided with land? How fast is it going? hmmm..

Before all of the unnecessary spreading of fear and speculation begins; the chances of this hitting the coast are pretty low. It is straight from the article in the OP

Hache said it was hard to project what course the ice island would take because it was following the water current. "The general direction is south but not in a straight line," he said. "You have different branches of the current. One of the branches could bring it toward shore, other branches could move it further offshore."

It's unlikely the ice island will get too close to shore because it would probably be "grounded" — meaning it would touch the bottom of the ocean — before reaching the coast, Hache said..

Hache said there should be no fear of an impending apocalypse.

"Except for navigation I don’t think there will be any threat; it won't ever go too close to shore," he said.

Source: www.msnbc.msn.com...

If it approached land, would it even "crash" into a coastal town?
I mean, how deep does it go under the water?
Wouldn't it just stop off the coast as the water got shallow?
I would think so, but, I don't know how far down it goes.

Anyway, they should definitely build an ice castle in the middle of it.
That would be a party destination that never ran out of ice cubes!
Endless pina colatas!!

Edit- the above poster said what I said already...