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Update Date: 2008/09/04 08:08
(Central News Agency Reporter Zhang Ruoting, Toronto, 3rd Special Report)
Canadian scientists have pointed out that a massive ice shelf, covering an area of 19 square miles (55 square kilometers), broke off from Ellesmere Island in Canada's Arctic region at the beginning of last month, and the remaining ice shelves are shrinking at an alarming rate. Scientists believe this is a result of climate change.
The ice shelf that broke off from Ellesmere Island is the Markham Ice Shelf. It is one of the last five remaining ice shelves in Canada's Arctic region. Scientists have also discovered that, in addition to the Markham Ice Shelf, two other ice blocks with a total area of 47 square miles have broken off from the Serson Ice Shelf, reducing the Serson Ice Shelf's area by 60%.
Vincent, the director of the Northern Research Center at Laval University in Quebec, expressed concern over the speed and scale of Arctic ice shelf melting. He said that in recent decades, temperatures in some parts of the Arctic have risen faster than the global average. Scientists believe this phenomenon is related to global warming.
Muller, a polar ice shelf expert at Trent University in Ontario, stated that the rapid melting of Arctic ice shelves highlights the rapid ecological changes in the Arctic, which are hard to imagine. Muller pointed out that the changes that have already occurred in the Arctic cannot be reversed, as the environmental conditions that once created the Arctic no longer exist.
Muller mentioned that this summer, the total amount of ice lost from the ice shelves along the coast of Ellesmere Island reached 83 square miles, larger than three Manhattans.
Professor Kaplan from the University of Ottawa stated that the reduction in sea ice, combined with unusually high temperatures, has accelerated the loss of ice shelves.
Kaplan pointed out that the largest ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, is also showing cracks everywhere. This phenomenon indicates that this ice shelf will continue to shrink in the coming years.
The last five remaining ice shelves in Canada's Arctic region experienced significant loss at the end of July this year. At that time, scientists discovered that an ice block covering approximately 8 square miles had broken off from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. Subsequently, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf lost another 8.5 square miles of ice.
The ice shelves along the coast of Ellesmere Island originally covered an area of 3,500 square miles, but now only a little over 300 square miles remain.
Scientists have stated that the formation process of ice shelves is quite long and has its unique ecology. Once these ice shelves disappear, they cannot be restored.
The rapid loss of ice shelves in Canada's Arctic archipelago has caused significant concern for the government. The Canadian government is worried that foreign ships will now be able to freely navigate Arctic waters. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Harper stated that Canada will strictly enforce the requirement for foreign ships to report to Canada before using Canadian Arctic waters. However, the United States and other countries do not recognize Canada's sovereignty over Arctic waters. 970903
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 080904/ 5/ 15bip. html
Arctic Ice Shelf Breaks off
(Central News Agency Reporter Zhang Ruoting, Toronto, 3rd Special Report)
Canadian scientists have pointed out that a massive ice shelf, covering an area of 19 square miles (55 square kilometers), broke off from Ellesmere Island in Canada's Arctic region at the beginning of last month, and the remaining ice shelves are shrinking at an alarming rate. Scientists believe this is a result of climate change.
The ice shelf that broke off from Ellesmere Island is the Markham Ice Shelf. It is one of the last five remaining ice shelves in Canada's Arctic region. Scientists have also discovered that, in addition to the Markham Ice Shelf, two other ice blocks with a total area of 47 square miles have broken off from the Serson Ice Shelf, reducing the Serson Ice Shelf's area by 60%.
Vincent, the director of the Northern Research Center at Laval University in Quebec, expressed concern over the speed and scale of Arctic ice shelf melting. He said that in recent decades, temperatures in some parts of the Arctic have risen faster than the global average. Scientists believe this phenomenon is related to global warming.
Muller, a polar ice shelf expert at Trent University in Ontario, stated that the rapid melting of Arctic ice shelves highlights the rapid ecological changes in the Arctic, which are hard to imagine. Muller pointed out that the changes that have already occurred in the Arctic cannot be reversed, as the environmental conditions that once created the Arctic no longer exist.
Muller mentioned that this summer, the total amount of ice lost from the ice shelves along the coast of Ellesmere Island reached 83 square miles, larger than three Manhattans.
Professor Kaplan from the University of Ottawa stated that the reduction in sea ice, combined with unusually high temperatures, has accelerated the loss of ice shelves.
Kaplan pointed out that the largest ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, is also showing cracks everywhere. This phenomenon indicates that this ice shelf will continue to shrink in the coming years.
The last five remaining ice shelves in Canada's Arctic region experienced significant loss at the end of July this year. At that time, scientists discovered that an ice block covering approximately 8 square miles had broken off from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. Subsequently, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf lost another 8.5 square miles of ice.
The ice shelves along the coast of Ellesmere Island originally covered an area of 3,500 square miles, but now only a little over 300 square miles remain.
Scientists have stated that the formation process of ice shelves is quite long and has its unique ecology. Once these ice shelves disappear, they cannot be restored.
The rapid loss of ice shelves in Canada's Arctic archipelago has caused significant concern for the government. The Canadian government is worried that foreign ships will now be able to freely navigate Arctic waters. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Harper stated that Canada will strictly enforce the requirement for foreign ships to report to Canada before using Canadian Arctic waters. However, the United States and other countries do not recognize Canada's sovereignty over Arctic waters. 970903
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 080904/ 5/ 15bip. html