Huge ice island heading toward Canada

Greenland massive ice sheets (file photo)


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139361.html


A massive ice island - four times the size of Manhattan - which broke off an iceberg in northwestern Greenland is now heading towards Canada.


The ice island is expected to enter the Nares Strait, a region between far northeastern Canada and northwestern Greenland, where it might run into small islands and break into smaller pieces, AFP reported.

"The newly born ice island may become land-fast, block the channel, or it may break into smaller pieces as it is propelled south by the prevailing ocean currents," Andreas Muenchow at the US University of Delaware said.

Analyzing satellite images, the size of the ice island that was born on August 5 has been estimated at 250 to 300 square kilometers. It broke off the Petermann glacier which is one of Greenland's two largest glaciers.

The ice island is believed to hold fresh water that mounts to “all US public tap water flowing for 120 days."

Trudy Wohlleben of the Canadian Ice Service was credited with first detecting the ice island after raw data from a NASA satellite was analyzed. Muenchow carried out a research on the ice island later, focusing on the Nares Strait.

While the breaking of the massive ice piece has raised concerns among Canada's environmental officials, the country's meteorologists have rejected the possibility of threats posed by the ice island for ships or oil drillings along Canada's coast.

The ice island is expected to reach the Atlantic within two years.