The Jews wanted signs too. Corinthians 1:22 Here is one for you climate skeptics out there: the biggest iceberg on Earth calved from the Ronne Ice Shelf and is now floating in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The gigantic iceberg labeled A-76, is 4,320 km² (1,668 sq miles) in area and roughly the shape of Manhattan Island. The next largest berg is also floating in the Weddell Sea. The Earth's average surface temperature has increased by one degree Celsius since the 19th century. The warmest increases in air temperature have occurred in the arctic regions. That is bad news for coastal dwellers as each massive ice berg that detaches from the polar ice caps on land contributes to an increase in sea levels. [photo credit: ESA].
Another huge berg threatened South Georgia Island recently, but fortunately for the millions of birds and marine mammals that live there, it broke up before reaching the sanctuary. According to one Colorado geologist the break off A-76 from the Ronne Ice Shelf is not related to climatic changes since the shelf has, "behaved in a stable, quasi-periodic fashion" over the past century or more. Some ice shelves along the Antarctic peninsula, farther from the South Pole, have undergone rapid disintegration in recent years, a phenomenon scientists believe may be related to global warming, according to the U.S. National Snow & Ice Data Center. [clarification provided by PNG in response to misleading local news reports].
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| Chinstraps on Elephant Island, Greenpeace |
Further: Antarctic penguins are certainly feeling the heat in this era of global warming. Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) that live on Antarctic coastal islands have experience a dramatic 50% population drop over the past fifty years. A Greenpeace expedition to one colony on Low Island found a seventy-seven reduction in numbers. Researchers from Stony Brook University counted 58% fewer breeding pairs on Elephant Island compared to the survey in 1971. Human caused combustion has pushed temperatures in and around the Antarctic Peninsula by 5C over pre-industrial levels. The region, which extends above the Antarctic Circle, recently set a new record high of 18.3C recently. A few years ago, scientists warned that warming could force King penguins find new breeding grounds or go extinct by the end of the century. An earlier study found that 60% of Adèlie penguin habitat could be lost. Krill, which makes up the base of the marine food chain, is also declining in some areas of the Southern Ocean with consequential impact on marine mammals. This decline in protoplakton is one reason the Gentoo penguin, a more generalist feeder, is replacing the Chinstrap. To highlight the plight of Antarctica's endemic species and support for a global ocean treaty that would protect habitat, Greenpeace installed melting penguin ice sculptures in international cities. No warming in Antarctica? NOT!