The debate about the affect of global warming rages on, seemingly endlessly. But while different groups and lobbies discuss whether or not the Earth is getting warmer and why, there is no doubt that those massive lumps of ice we have floating around are slowly disappearing.
While filming a project called Chasing Ice – documentary about a sceptics first hand experiences of climate change as opposed to one about stalking Rob Van Winkle – filmers Jeff Orlowski, Adam LeWinter and crew captured startling footage of a pice of a glacier collapsing into the sea around it.
Filming the Ilulissat Glacier in Western Greenland, the footage shows a phenomenon called Calving, when large chunks around the edge of a glacier break off and disappear into the sea.
The video is a startling reminder of just how powerful nature can be when it start wreaking havoc about the place. However, the whole thing becomes even more shocking when you realise that the chunk of ice you see disappear is the same size as the entire lower island of Manhattan, and two and a half times taller!
Just imagine seeing all of those sky scrapers and office blocks suddenly just vanishing. It’d make Clover Field look like a storm in a tea cup.
Most alarmingly, however, is the acceleration of the speed at which this particular glacier is disappearing. As the director points out, between 1902 and 2001, the glacier eroded eight miles.
But, between 2000 and 2010, the glacier lost a further nine miles of girth. So more has been lost in ten years than went in the previous 100.
Whether you believe this is a natural phenomenon, or something that’s been accelerated by man, it’s clear that the warming of global waters is increasing, which is having this obvious affect on the planet.
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