A giant ice island broke off the Petermann Glacier three weeks ago. Seriously worrisome headlines have been appearing ever since.Four times the size of Manhattan? The island of Manhattan is 13.4 miles long and 2.3 miles wide? FOUR times the size is 53 miles long, 9.2 miles wide.
Nothing that large has broken off from the glaciers in fifty years.
Right now it's threatening the shipping lanes in the North Atlantic and the state of Washington. The melting ice below the surface of this monster is raising the level of the water.
What should we do? What can we do?
Engineers in Washington state want to anchor tow-ropes. They say they can drill holes, attach anchors, attach ropes -- tow ships can exert a 50 ton pull and pull the iceberg off its course.
Canadian engineers say they can release a huge volume of bubbles under the edge of the iceberg until the bubbles lift the edge, and then the iceberg will begin to move.
Gee, golly -- even if it moves, it's still there, melting, threatening the area, and if another slab, another island breaks off another glacier ...?
And some people are still wondering, asking, debating whether or not there's global warming?
What further proof do we need than this iceberg, and the killer heat and smog in Russia, the fires, that have been driving residents from Moscow and destroying Russia's wheat crop -- the fifth of Pakistan that's underwater -- the millions of people devastated by floods in Asia -- the heat wave that's been broiling Mexico and the east coast of the U.S.?
Is the Petermann iceberg a warning from God and Mother Nature that's telling us it's time to build the ark?
The world is our ark. If we want our world to survive we have to stop everything that we've been doing that's warming the globe.
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2 comments:
I think that regardless of whether a not a person believes in global warming (and boy does that spark some interesting debates among friends), the legislation and regulation that would help curb the pollution and carbon footprints to cause such troubles just seem like something we must do anyway.
Humans in general tend to forget that Mother Nature is hosting us and can give us all the boot at any time. I saw that list of ten most polluted cities around the world and it just frightened me. One day in Linfen, China is the equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes. If it's that bad for humans, imagine how bad that is for the surrounding environment! That's scary stuff!
Why has this not been more prevalent in the media!!!!??? This is indeed scary!!
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