News Clippings: Iceberg B17B is on its way to Australia, duckies

I’m not sure if people in Australia call one another ducky or duckies, but they’ll call one another something unique when B17B comes within sight of their coast.

“Ducky-Dee, you should see the ‘berg. It’s twice the size of Manhattan!”

“Hey Dingo, how would you know? You’ve never been to Manhattan.”

“I read about it in the news, fer pity’s sake, ya big maroon.”

(I hear that ‘maroon’ is a big put down in down-under).

According to a story in my local paper, ‘a monster iceberg twice the size of Manhattan is drifting towards Australia, raising fears that a collision with the continental shelf could cause tremors in the country.’ (Dec. 11, London Free Press)


["Blue Antarctica iceberg": see photos at this site]

That sounds ominous, to some, but it may never happen.

"As the water warms up the iceberg is slowly breaking up, resulting in hundreds more smaller icebergs in the area," says Dr. Neal Young, a glaciologist.

Though the melting process may take care of one concern, it opens the door for us to consider greater concerns:

Where did it come from and why is the iceberg on its way to Australia in the first place?

The article answers the first question, and we can likely answer the second ourselves.

E.g., B17B broke of the Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica) more than 10 years ago, has drifted 1,000s of kms and is now 1,700 kms from Australia.

The Ross Ice Shelf is breaking up due to warmer global temperatures.

So, get used to more icebergs, duckies, as climate change affects our environment in a myriad of ways.

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It is estimated that almost 150,000,000 people who crowd coastlines for their livelihood will be immediately affected (some already have been) by the early stages of rising water levels.

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