thanks for getting the word out fromz - i would not have known otherwise

What exactly was the process noticed first in the 1900's? Do you think that this occurence substantiates the idea of global warming? (Some people are skeptical about GW - I really don't know enough; I've seen Al Gore's movie though ). :-)

The process is simply the process of the ice shelf falling apart.

I don;t know of any studies on the phenomena specifically but it seems likely given the timing, that it's started as a result of warming as we came out of the Little Ice Age. Which was itself a cold period in the middle of an interglacial period.

Technically, the last Ice Age, starting about 2.6 mya, had several periods of glaciation and we are still exiting the Age.

For anyone interested, here's Wikipedia on major ice ages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age#Major_ice_ages

Be sure to check the temp charts.

We've kicked the peripheries of this topic around in several places in this group. Personally, my thought is that we are experiencing global climate change ... whether it is a long term trend for warming or not remains to be seen ... the terms of time are too miniscule at this point to really know. Trends of this kind of enormity require years of data.

I saw the report on the Ellesmere break off this morning, too.

For those who did not see it earlier, this piece comparing CO2 with climatic variations posted on YouTube is very interesting. Give them time to load:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=FOLkze-9GcI

Now, there are other youtube pieces out there ... and each is a tool of advocates one way or another. A tenant of science is to follow the data rather than pursue data that supports a particular anticipated result. A good question, the answer to which is subject to much controversy, is, "What is causing the climate change?" If one takes the Ellesmere iceberg as data then we can say, "See there! Warming!" But the question of cause still remains. Then comes, "Well, the reasons why are irrelevant. We should do something!" Okay, what?

Perhaps you've seen this.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ&feature=related

The debate continues, but the science is not all in .... yet.

(*Fromz ... I know you've already seen all of this!)

Have read some interesting stuff on the Pacific Decadal Ossilation lately. NYT, Wiki, a paper on PDO.

I would like to share with you a series of presentations by John Coleman. It is a very easy read and presented in the form of a 20 page .pdf file.

He speaks to the retreat and advance of ice in the polar caps, but mostly he is a fervent proponent of the fact that climate change is not man made or man coused.

I read Ashiya's post and her referencing Al Gore's movie. This is a fantastic counterbalance to that like of argument and thus lends itself to creating a bit of a more balanced discussion.

You can see Mr. Coleman's work in a site out of San Diego:

http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner

And this is the link to the specific document I reference above:

http://media.kusi.clickability.com/documents/Comments+on+Global+Warming02.pdf

I very much look forward to hearing what you think about his work.