Abandon Ice Floe !

Posted by Big Gav in arctic ice, global warming

Grist points to a story on melting arctic ice.

Russian scientists are evacuating early from their research base on a shrinking Arctic ice floe. Last April, the floe was sturdy enough to build an air strip on. In September, 21 researchers and two dogs arrived, at which point their ice abode measured 1.2 by 2.5 miles. The researchers meant to leave in late August, but will evacuate this week from a floe that has shrunk to a mere 1,000 by 2,000 feet. Researcher Sergei Balyasnikov explains matter-of-factly, "The evacuation is ahead of schedule because of global warming."

2 comments

Anonymous says 3:00 AM

The Russians have had ice stations near the North Pole for many years. I used to think they were permanent but come to find out they all eventually hit warmer water and have to be abandoned. This is pretty normal; don’t think it’s any indication of global warming.

Big Gav says 9:06 PM

The point the Russian guy made was that the ice flow melted much earlier than expected (which he put down to global warming - one symptom of which has been the rapid shrinking of arctic ice cover in recent years) - not that they don't expect them to melt.