Icebergs head toward New Zealand

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Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by climatechange in Ice

Hundreds of icebergs that split off Antarctic ice shelves is drifting toward New Zealand and could pose a risk to ships in the south Pacific Ocean, officials said Tuesday. Icebergs are formed as the snow falls on the ice sheet and forms more ice, which flows to the edges of the floating ice shelves to break off around the edges.

Icebergs are routinely sloughed off as part of the natural development of ice shelves but an Australian glaciologist Young said the rate appeared to be increasing as a result of regional warming in Antarctica, which may be related prevailing weather patterns and not necessarily be related to global warming.

Full story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091125/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_icebergs