Glaciers Calved In Greenland No Longer Survive Long Enough To Reach Canada - CanWest

[hatrack]

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- Plenty of icebergs have been produced in Greenland in the last decade, but warming seas are melting them before they get to Canada, says marine geologist Chris Woodworth-Lynas.

While that might be bad news for Newfoundland and Labrador's tourism industry, which hasn't seen an iceberg season in years, it could be a boon for oil and gas companies, said Woodworth-Lynas says.

"If the climate is becoming milder because of climate change, maybe the irony is that (Makkovik Bank in Labrador) could now be exposed as exploration area, where it would have been too dangerous to go before," Woodworth-Lynastold a seminar at Memorial University. In the 1970s and early 1980s, five natural gas fields were discovered off Labrador. They contained an estimated 4.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, along with 123 million barrels of natural gas liquids.

There has been an overall trend toward less ice making it this far south, Woodworth-Lynas said. "The icebergs seem to be thinning out and disappearing," he said. "In fact, there's hardly been an iceberg season to speak of on the Grand Bank for the last four or five years."

EDIT

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=482e6b29-6d47-4ceb-8e62-bc3d9f2e764a

[Mabus]

1. The melting seems to be speeding up

faster than anticipated.

Why is our government not doing anything? Oh yeah, the get too much money from corporations raping our world to care. The image from AIT of the scales with the earth on one side and gold bars on the other keeps popping into my head.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Perhaps it's simply being reported more often than it was

We've seen that the media does not necessarily accurately reflect reality.

[AliceWonderland]

3. I don't follow you -- what, the absence of icebergs is being reported more than it was? Melting in

general? If you mean the icebergs -- that is correct; I checked in with my mother at home in St. John's, and she says the icebergs haven't come down along the water by Cabot Tower for a while now. Also, the climate in St. John's has drastically changed; the summers are much hotter than I ever remember. A "hot" summer day would have been in the high 60s, if that.

Somehow, a potential boom for the oil/gas companies doesn't make me feel much better... especially given the general penchant for destroying Newfoundland natural resources like the cod fishery.

[Mabus]

4. I don't rely on what's just on television

I also read professional journals and papers mostly because I am lucky enough to have access to them. I used to work at the Kansas Geological Survey and I know scientists from a lot of disciplines. In addition, and probably because I grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas, I've had a long time interest in weather, weather patterns and the environment. One of the first hardback books I ever bought was Frank Laine's "Unusual Weather" which I carried and read until it fell apart. I'm half American Indian. Believe me, I grew up knowing not to trust most of what I read in the papers.

Finally, for the past 21 years I have been part of a group battling the feds, the state and local developers over highway projects based on environmental, socio-economic and spiritual concerns. Over those years I have helped write responses to Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements and Supplemental Environmental Impacts Statements which necessitated knowing much more than superficial information. The last response to an SEIS I helped write was three volumes, close to 2500 pages and was full of information like how the land in question was formed by retreating glaciers; the variability of the water systems that will be impacted and how the project could affect the various tributaries and the main river (the might Kaw/Kansas River) and those downstream would be affected if the highway went in based on projections; a history of the flora and fauna, current information on the same and how the flora and fauna has changed since the building of various roads in and around the current proposed alignment; current conservation measures taken by surrounding farmland, some of which have won conservation awards over the years, how it will impact the economy of the farmers, ranchers and diary farms and how the current conservatin measures would be affected by building the highway; we talked about resulting habitat fragmentation; accident rates along the highway; how this particular project is related to other roadway/highway projects and the link to the NAFTA superhighway, etc. We have won several court battles, including one round in 1998 that forced new standards for the Federal Highway Administration's guide book when it deals with project that affect minority communities and stopped the project in its tracks (based on the state and feds trying to defederalize the project) for the time being (the feds are still wanting to go ahead with the project, so my battle continues as well.

In short, the basis of my post was years of my personal interest, observation and research that cut across a number of disciplines, not just what the media said.