In climate news, from today’s Agence France-Press:
SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian authorities Friday issued a shipping alert over a gigantic iceberg that is gradually approaching the country’s southwest coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the once-in-a-century cliff of ice, which dislodged from about a decade ago before drifting north, was being monitored using satellites.
“Mariners are advised that at 1200 GMT on December 9, an iceberg approximately 1,700 kilometres (1,054 miles) south-southwest of the West Australian coast was observed,” it said, giving the iceberg’s coordinates. “The iceberg is 140 square kilometres in area — 19 kilometres long by eight kilometres wide.”
Experts believe the iceberg — known as B17B — is likely to break up as it enters warmer waters nearer Australia, creating hundreds of smaller icebergs in a hazard to passing ships.
“It’s still 1,700 kilometres away, so it’s quite a long way away, it’s not really on our doorstep yet but it’s been heading steadily towards us,” glaciologist Neal Young said Thursday.
Young earlier told AFP that an iceberg of that size had probably not been seen in the area since the days when 19th century clipper sailing ships plied the trade route between Britain and Australia.
The iceberg has been floating around Antarctica since shearing off the icey continent but had lately begun heading north because of ocean currents and weather conditions.
Its discovery comes after two other large icebergs were spotted further east, off Australia’s Macquarie Island, followed by more than 100 smaller chunks heading towards New Zealand.
Young described the icebergs as uncommon, but said they could become more frequent if sea temperatures rise through global warming.
Leslie,
Good to see someone is taking note and wants to know more, sure some of the green groups are arragent and extremely uniformed and need to get their act together if they think they have some real stuff to push.
the informatin I have is huge and I would not know where to remotely start, perhaps Google; Chilling Stars, and about the fifth entry you will find; Global Warming a warn out hoax, and start reading some of the feedback also look at the information in this very informed book, this is only a small fraction of the truth available.
Despite the huge amount of information that I have axcess to I have chosen to remain silent, to raise my two children alone into the deep spiritual values I have.
My reasons being back in New Zealand in the early 1970’s Auckland; Friends of the Home, a small group which fought hard to get the first Glass reclycing then plastics, the first in the southern hemisphere and was very involved with Greenpeace and asleep within walking distance of the Rainbow Warrier down town Auckland when she was blown up by the grossly arragent French and a mate lost, legal action we took through the High Court to get justice.
So you can see I am no spring chicken, back in those early days it was very hard to get the average person to even remotely take notice, however now all this gobal hype although to me is based on extreme greed and control by those with no real values, what is happening is pleasing in that the masses are at last taking notice and poor mother earth is in a great need of help right now, to name destruction of rainforest to name only one.
I currently am involved in conservation groups and will not give up.
The iceberg has apparently been around since 2000, so yes, maybe someone did hire the iceberg from Central Casting. This is a report from the Sydney Morning Herald, and a local report rather than foreign sourced:
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/iceberg-a-onceinalifetime-sighting-20091209-kj87.html
D Naulis, are you able to direct us to some of the best information that you refer to – I would like to understand the alternative view better.
We went to the Green Day concert in Sydney last night. My 16 year old son and I both were amused at the irony of this group of “non-conformists” getting the audience on board to do everything they said!! A fantastic concert, mind you. As he talked about the environment “it is our world, not the politicians”, I thought the missing piece is that we have to be personally responsible for it too and if there are serious global warming problems, it seems one of the answers is to consume less of everything. And even as someone who is fairly conscious, that is easier said than done. But I don’t hear that as a broad environmental message – repair more, eat less, buy less (including Green Day programs, t-shirts and CDs and the junk food they sell at concerts). It’s a funny world…
Umm, Len, (little Miss Know-Some-of-It here)
One minor observation (hope you do not think that this detracts from the greater truth of yours). Water expands when it freezes. Once the ice is in the water, its melting will not cause the water level to rise, it will in fact drop slightly.
Saline water behaves differently than tap water, and icebergs are not just frozen, they have a unique set of properties based on strange gravity, compressibility, super-low temps and the mixing of ocean and fresh waters. So, in fact, when they thaw, they do raise ocean levels — also for reasons that have as much to do with changing the fundamental sphericity of the planet as anything else. You might look up ‘nonlinear thermobaricity’ on line.
Me, I’m thinkin’ gills…
(Splash!)
M
As a conservationist very active since 1959 in New Zealand and Australia, I am also a total disbeliever in all this gross crap on globale warming and have heaps of information to back this but it seems the powers that be have to have something to
get the masses together in order to expand their huge egos and greed in expanding globlisation.
All I hear day to day is look all around you cant you see what is happening, I am more than aware as I spend long hours downloading everything that is going on.
I am wondering if the Aussies will be as mad as the Kiwis, that is airlift a sheep to sheer last year on a passing iceburg.
Iceburgs have always broken off from the Antarctic shelf, this happened as a warm period in the time leading up to the late 1990’s resulting in a large burg braking free around 2002 and circled Antarticia before heading north and breaking up into a hundred burgs plus, as being stated through various sources are well and truly melted before getting close to New Zealand, however since 2003 extreme cold conditions in the southern ocean have kept these burgs intact as well as the burg heading to southern Australia,
As a New Zealander I am interested in what is happening there, New Zealands South Island has some some very popular skifields, Mt Hutt is one in particular
This winter downunder has seen the coldest winter yet recorded with heavy snowfalls as a result the fields were opened a month earlier.
What I am trying to say is dont be led like a lot of sheep, try and see the whole picture, what is going on in the universe, far more than the narrow greed orientated
could even remotey grasp.
Aussie
Downunder.
Len,
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about what the changes will be when the reception is no longer mutual between Uranus and Neptune. Pretty sure that when Uranus gets to and stays in Aries, the natives will take to the streets with their angry demands. But that’s another subject for another time. For now, will try to catch a few winks tonight and the meteorites tomorrow, and thank you for the heads up (ha ha).
You can bet that is one hell of an ice cube floating and perhaps melting in the ocean near Australia. Cheers everybody!
be
One other thing, weather permitting. Look up at the skies tonight and for the next few. It’s time for the Geminids meteor shower. Saw a nice green streaker while walking to work before dawn.
Hi Fe – thank you once again for keeping us in touch with these things. One minor observation (hope you do not think that this detracts from the greater truth of yours). Water expands when it freezes. Once the ice is in the water, its melting will not cause the water level to rise, it will in fact drop slightly. Try an experiment. Fill a glass with ice and water to the brim. As the ice melts, the water level goes down. Once again, not my intention to one-up or be petty. Dumping a lot of cold, fresh water in the oceans would indeed have some seriously dangerous potentials (and not just coastal impact either).
Be – thank you, you are a remarkable astrologer for our time. i concur with your observations regarding the long-standing mutual reception (or dispositorship, if you will) of Aquarius and Pisces swapping their ruling planets. However, it’s complex, still more to them swingers that we have yet to discover (and not a whole lot of time left to do that). If i read it correctly, Neptune will have about a year longer in Aquarius than Uranus will in Pisces. So, we will see what that feel like when Uranus has moved on to the hot action in Aries.
Be:
Under worst case scenario conditions, I would think it also means the water level rises, since this ice will melt over time. This will probably also change the region’s sea life habitat, bringing in more fresh water to the ocean. This must eventually have a coastal impact.
Fe,
What do you suppose the “worst case scenario” would be, other than a hazard to passing ships when it breaks up? Could it affect the weather in Australia? I’m thinking it might bring an increase in tourist trade, but presume the melting that caused the chunk to break loose in the 1st place is the ominous message.
It is a remarkable time for this to happen, along with the light show to the north. Uranus in Pisces watery sign and Neptune in Uranus’ airy and electric sign are perhaps signaling each other or us to prepare for the unusual, rare and globally recognized events to come.
be
The timing of the announcement, in light of the Copenhagen Summit, is quite interesting. Did someone hire the iceberg from Central Casting?
(snark)