Climate Change Events: Some Are Faster than Others
We normally think of the various impacts of climate as occurring slowly over long periods of time, perhaps decades or even centuries. For example, no one expects to experience sea-level rise as he sits, sipping cold ones and admiring the bikinis at the beach.
Here, however, is a terrifying reminder of what all this can look like: an 11 million ton iceberg, which has been released into the Baffin Bay via the melting of the western part of the Greenland Ice Sheet. It’s the size of a sports arena, and it’s making its way north, just off the coast of a quaint little village. Yes, this is time-lapse photography, required to show the motion to the human eye, and even with that, it appears to be moving in slow motion. Yet there will be nothing slow about the tsunami that will swamp the town in the event of a major calving incident.
Craig,
Most of these spectacular events are created by the break up glaciers and ice covers formed during the ‘Little Ice Age’, largely in the Northern Hemisphere.
The effects on land mass and sea bed are as yet not fully understood and the subject of intense debate.
As ice caps melt the sea bed can deepen on global scale while land mass rises can rise in an unexpected and inconsistent manner.
Even more worrying is the uncovering of new areas of volcanic activity near once previously stable population centres.
The causes of the ‘little ice age’ holds the key to understanding this current phenomena. Studies into volcanic activity are very important, since one of the more accepted theories into origin of the little ‘Little Ice Age’ is a number of massive volcanic eruptions.
Other theories such as decreased radiation from the sun creating widespread planetary cooling, slight changes in the earths orbit etc. (even the death of belief in the old Norse gods ! Which believe it or not was the subject of expensive investigation by National Socialist ‘scientists’)are still the subject of research and debate.
Land rise and fall phenomenon is a fascinating area of research. The causes are far too complex for the simplistic, sensationalized rantings of global warming alarmists to explain.