Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Giant ice island breaks off Greenland
Floating ice sheet is four times the size of Manhattan, scientists say
. Greenland's Petermann Glacier, shown in 2009, where an ice island about 100 square miles broke off Aug. 5, researchers say. Satellite imagery reveals that Petermann Glacier lost about one-quarter of its 43-mile-long floating ice-shelf.
updated 8/6/2010 7:05:36 PM ET
A giant ice island has broken off the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland.
The last time the Arctic lost such a large chunk of ice was in 1962.
"In the early morning hours of Aug. 5, 2010, an ice island four times the size of Manhattan was born in northern Greenland," said Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.
Satellite imagery of this remote area at 81 degrees north latitude and 61 degrees west longitude, about 620 miles south of the North Pole, reveals that Petermann Glacier lost about one-quarter of its 43-mile-long floating ice-shelf.
continues at; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38600087/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Some background on Petermann - a breakup in 2008, and a prediction of further loss.
http://bprc.osu.edu/MODIS/?p=25
Floating ice sheet is four times the size of Manhattan, scientists say
. Greenland's Petermann Glacier, shown in 2009, where an ice island about 100 square miles broke off Aug. 5, researchers say. Satellite imagery reveals that Petermann Glacier lost about one-quarter of its 43-mile-long floating ice-shelf.
updated 8/6/2010 7:05:36 PM ET
A giant ice island has broken off the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland.
The last time the Arctic lost such a large chunk of ice was in 1962.
"In the early morning hours of Aug. 5, 2010, an ice island four times the size of Manhattan was born in northern Greenland," said Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.
Satellite imagery of this remote area at 81 degrees north latitude and 61 degrees west longitude, about 620 miles south of the North Pole, reveals that Petermann Glacier lost about one-quarter of its 43-mile-long floating ice-shelf.
continues at; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38600087/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Some background on Petermann - a breakup in 2008, and a prediction of further loss.
http://bprc.osu.edu/MODIS/?p=25
