You have to feel sorry for Australian aviator George Hubert Wilkins, one of the pioneers of flying in Antarctica who lived from 1888 to 1958 – and whose name is commemorated in an Antarctic Ice Shelf that is about to vanish into the ocean.
We landed near the narrowest point of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in a plane with a group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey – who reckoned it was the first time anyone had visited within tens of kilometres (miles).
And it will probably be the last visit since the shelf is poised to collapse into the sea (for a story, click here).
Canadian pilot Steve King skimmed the Twin Otter plane in low over the ice and let the skis on the undercarriage slide over to test the surface for crevasses without committing to landing. We then swooped around and landed on the slushy ice — it’s scary enough landing on a runway in a small plane; here there was nothing but trackless white.
Glaciologist David Vaughan (pictured above) reckons the breakup could be days, weeks or months away – it is connected to Antarctica by a strip of ice that is just 500 metres wide at the narrowest point – in 1950 it was almost 100 kms wide. We landed a few km away from the narrowest point (shown in the picture on the right — the ice cliff at the front is about 20 metres high). 
My colleague Stuart Mc Dill from Reuters TV and I then watched with alarm as Vaughan forced a long metal pole deep into the ice to set up a GPS monitoring device. ‘Um, David, are you sure that’s a good idea?’
Steve expertly got us off safely.
Wilkins is one of 10 ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula that have been retreating because of global warming — sediments beneath the glaciers show that the region has not been ice free for 10,000 years.
So goodbye Wilkins Ice Shelf — hello Wilkins Bay?
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Oh, this was named after my boyfriends great grand father - what a shame
I like the Wilkins Bay idea!
- Posted by Marion[...] North Pacific.The continental glaciers in question are the Arctic and Antartica. In the latter, the Wilkins Ice Shelf, connected to the continent by a mere 500-meter (1,640-foot) wide tongue of ice, hangs precariously [...]
- Posted by British Columbia Coastline Faces Being Shaken and Swamped - SustainLaneIf we are headed to another ice age, man will adapt as man adapted from the last ice age as the earth grew warmer and as the earth grows warmer man will continue to adapt.
- Posted by BenLurkinAlternative energy is being developed and will continue to be developed. If the seas rise man will move inland or build dikes. CO2 is a natural gas and the plants need it to live. Even at that CO2 still is only 1/3 of 1 percent of our atmosphere. Let’s all take a deep breath.
Any idiot who thinks that spewing tons of toxic CO2, SO2 and other gases into the atmosphere from factories, smelters, power-plants and automobiles for 100 years, has had no effect on the climate of the Earth, needs to have his/her head examined for the presence of a brain.
- Posted by Venkatnevket probably voted for Bush too! If it isn’t getting warmer, why are the shelves disintegrating!
- Posted by goodyIsnt that the paradox of global warming? Currents flowing north from their caribbean origins in the atlantic raise the temperatures in the far northern hemisphere, which affects the polar ice cap, which then when melt actually cools the oceans.
The warming triggers a cooling effect in northern climates, which some can argue is occuring with regular sub-zero arctic fronts continuously sweeping into the mid-section of the US and even reaching into the south. The cooling is actually considered a by product of the warming. Ultimately, the warming, leads to cooling and then back into equilibrium. Even way….BOHICA (Bend over, here it comes again!)
- Posted by DennisAlister, your reporting this week from the White Continent was great! And this value added extra blog posting is wonderful too, to see the story behind the story. We readers around the world are reading you loud and clear. keep up the good work! — danny
- Posted by danny bloomHa Ha Ha.
- Posted by nevket240Climateaudit has already shot holes in this latest fraud. Talk about a last hurrah. These “scientists” really have their backs to the wall. Their paymasters are probably coming up with “Scary movie 6″ with as much scientific validity as Gores first pointless effort.
Read CAs debunking of the data manipulation and invention used in this “story” Warmers before you get too tired & emotional.
regards
Does it really make much difference whether climate change is man made or not? There is warming. Fact. Now how do we deal with it. I can just see it now. 2050 and everyone is floating around Arkansas arguing whether the sea level rose and drowned their crops because of man made or natural causes.. Have fun in the future fellas.
- Posted by 999theanitiantichristNext question: How much is it going to cost NOT to fix?
- Posted by JMLHow much is this going to cost to fix?… Sorry, my government already spent a lifetime of MY tax contributions on wasted efforts. Anyway you cant fix what is not broken. BTW its incredibly cold right now, a little global warming would be welcome.
- Posted by FujiokoThe Planet is cooling and this Global Warming stuff is ridiculous.
- Posted by RicoLoosing these ice sheets isn’t just sad. It is scary. Rising waters are just the beginning. With increased fresh water (which is what melted ice is), comes changes to the ocean’s currents which rely on salinity. Soon after the UK will be nearly as cold as Finland.
Just how long this will take is a matter of great speculation– perhaps another 100 years. However it is unclear whether it will be reversible by the time we start really trying to do something about it.
If you are more worried about paying taxes than rising waters, then expect the problem to just get worse. Leaving the problem to your kids is a viable option, I guess.
- Posted by david brucePluto is warmer as well. Could the sun be the cause? Climate change is about YOU paying MORE TAX…
- Posted by J West