Saturday, February 27, 2010

For All You Ice Lovers...

Berg on the right drifts to the left...

The chance to go kayaking in ice-filled waters intrigues many people, me included. After all, it harkens back to the very roots of our sport and so it's only natural we'd be fascinated with the icy prospects.

... and collides with the glacial snout...

This past week events on the western coast of Antarctica have provided an Olympian challenge for super-kayakers with ice on their minds. A giant berg the size of some small countries has been smashed off the glacier that produced it and is now adrift. 100 kms long and 30 kms wide, its massive cliff faces would present an amazing sight for paddlers, not to mention the vast fields of brash ice and growlers in the area of the break...

... breaking it off and setting it adrift.

Apparently this break is due more to natural events than directly to climate change effects, but predictions are that chunks of ice this large can produce altered weather in parts of the world as they drift around and melt. In some cases this large, the effects can be miles away from the Antarctic itself including the northern hemisphere. As I stew away in the heat of another Canadian winter -it's presently +8°C outdoors - I can only hope it will cool things down by next winter!

1 comment:

clairesgarden said...

your getting it warmer than here...I am very fed up the cold and always having on so many clothes I can hardly move.....