Showing posts with label Ice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ice. Show all posts

Sunday, April 19, 2009

What's that sound?

Awoke this morning to a strange sound outside. It was sort of a combined hiss, roar, rumble, whisper and sigh... Hey! The ice is gone! It had been candled for a while and more and more cracks had appeared daily which moved back and forth depending on the breeze. Today there is a brisk wind blowing in off the water and all the ice that had been in front of our house is gone except for a few small chunks along the shoreline.

Although it's nice to hear the waves again I know I'm going to miss the morning silence while I'm out on the deck with my coffee. I enjoy it when there isn't a sound except for the birds and the trees talking to each other, perhaps a crackle as some small animal moves through the woods. For me that's the time to contemplate and ponder... think and plan... reflect and wonder. I like the morning dawn, can you tell?

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Ice Cubes...

OK, so yes there is global warming and that is a documented fact but I can't get too excited about the latest chunk of ice breaking off in the Antarctic. I just saw where a slab the size of the city of Montreal detached yesterday and even though it may be a symptom of the changing climate is it not also likely that this is just a natural part of ice pack evolution?

I will be the first to admit that I've been hesitant in embracing the panic of rising temperatures but I'm sure you'll understand that it's because I spend a good part of the year in the arctic. For example where I am now the temperature has ranged from -15 to -45 over the past month, so it's a little difficult to believe it's getting warmer when you're walking into a blizzard with a -50 wind chill factor.

OK, so my point (and please correct me) is that any object that is supported by water or air or anything at all, and gets bigger and bigger over the years from more material being added to it will change and get heavier over time. So when things get heavier and heavier, even over thousands of years, does it not eventually have to reach a breaking point? Now I believe that the Antarctic does not have any land under it but what about the top of the world... is it not land based with tons of snow being dumped on it each year? Is this snow not compressing and moving outward to the edges? Is this edge not expected to break off once in a while?

Try extending a tape measure straight out and it will only go so far before it kinks and flops downward. Is the ice not acting the same? Hmmm...