In
the early morning of Thursday, August 5, a vast 87-square-kilometer
chunk of ice representing one-quarter of the Petermann Glacier separated
from the main body of ice and became an island four times the size of
New York’s Manhattan.
The rupture comes as scientists report
that the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest on record
globally. Speaking of this and a previous loss to the glacier’s
diminishing ice shelf, climatologist Dr. Jason E. Box of Ohio State
University stated, “Petermann is a sleeping giant that is slowly
awakening….
The coincidence of this area loss and a 30-square
kilometer loss in 2008 with abnormal warmth this year, (along
with)…increasing sea surface temperatures and sea ice decline are all
part of a climate warming pattern.”
Other scientists monitoring
the ice say the newly calved island will enter the deep waterway between
northern Greenland and Canada known as the Nares Straight, where it may
block the channel or break into smaller pieces as it is propelled south
by ocean currents.
Dr. Alun Hubbard - Glaciologist, Aberystwyth University:
Ocean warming currents are circulating around the fjord here and
eroding the underbelly of Petermann glacier at an incredible rate which
is 25 times that of the surface melt. There's been a revelation in the
last couple of years in the role that warming oceans play in triggering
the enhanced acceleration, breakup, and thinning of these outlet
glaciers.
Dr. Box, colleagues and other international
researchers, we appreciate your diligent observations and reporting on
the continued alarming melt of Arctic ice.
May we heed such
warnings and join now in adopting sustainable, planet-cooling
lifestyles. Speaking with concern during a September 2009
videoconference in Peru as on previous occasions about the predicament
facing humanity due to the many aspects of global warming, Supreme
Master Ching Hai offered simple but effective suggestions.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Glaciers
melt in many places so dramatically that one moment there are massive
floods, and soon after, a drought. We are not ready for the changes that
are coming.
The wisest action would be to fix the situation we have
now and prevent further damage; then we won’t even have to worry about
the future.
All the leading scientists we have spoken to tell us
one and the same: that we must handle it now, not tomorrow. The
smartest way would be to stop the worsening of global warming by being
vegan. It sounds very simple but it is the best solution, the most
effective and the effect of it will be felt almost immediately. So
please, before the situation gets any more out of hand – let’s choose
the vegan diet.
Be veg, go green, so we can all save the planet.
http://www.physorg.com/news200326075.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10900235