Iceberg A68 Scare

There was major news about the world effects last year when a huge iceberg broke off the Larsen C shelf in Antarctica. On 12 July 2017, a lump of ice more than twice the size of Luxembourg or the state of Delaware broke off the Larsen C ice shelf, spawning one of the largest icebergs on record and changing the outline of the Antarctic Peninsula forever.

Even though it has been proven that the break had no relation to climate change, a headline read, "If climate change continues unabated, ice-free areas on Antarctica will increase up to a quarter by 2100 - says a study on changes in the planet's southernmost continent." Another headline read, "Antarctica: Larsen C break off could have dire consequences." Many were worried about how far and where it would float and what damage it would cause before dissolving.

During the following months, observations showed the iceberg remained close, buffeting back and forth against the ice shelf. It was unclear what would happen to the berg, because they can remain in one place for years. A68 (sixth largest in recorded history) is now on the move and drifting out to sea with a gap of about 11 miles (18 km) between it and the shelf.

For B15, the second-biggest iceberg in recorded history, the process has taken nearly two decades. B15 snapped off Antarctica's Ross ice shelf in 2000. It had a surface area of 4,200 square miles - twice that of A68. Today it is drifting in warm waters near South Georgia (southeast of South America).

Incidentally, I had to scour about thirty web sites to find current details. Other than a few real scientists, not much interest lately. Bottom line, it broke off, we are all still safe, Meh.

Tidbits

Charlie Chaplin died during 1977, the year Apple was founded.
The Wright brothers made their first flight during 1903, just 66 years before the first man stepped on the Moon during 1969.

Twelve million penguins in Antarctica celebrated World Penguin Day April 25, 2017. 

They consist of five species: Emperor, Adélie, Chinstrap, Gentoo and Macaroni.

Millions of Lakes

There are 117 million lakes on Earth, covering 3.7 percent of the continental land surface. This does not include Antarctica, Greenland, or the Caspian Sea. About 90 million of these lakes are less than two football fields in size, or 0.5 to 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1 hectares).

Daylight saving Time

Daylight saving time is often incorrectly referred to as “Daylight savings time.” It is difficult to imagine why some still follow this political tradition of messing with our clocks in the vain attempt to change Mother Nature. Nonetheless, this Sunday, March 9, 2014 is the day in the US most move our clocks forward one hour (and also to change the batteries on smoke detectors), while some are not required to change their clocks.

United States Congress established the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that stated DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. The US Congress extended DST to a period of ten months in 1974, and back to eight months in 1975. The DST schedule period lasted for about seven months from 1987 to 2006. The current schedule began in 2007 and follows the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended the period by about one month where DST starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Interesting that the vast majority, well over one hundred countries, do not change clocks for DST or any other reason. Those that do observe it have different days, ranging from Mar 9 to April 6, and September in New Zealand, Antarctica, and Namibia. Some of Australia changes on October 5, with other parts of Australia not changing their clocks.

Pro - According to a 2004 Japan Productivity Centre (sic) for Socio-Economic Development report titled, 'Summer Time as a Means to Lifestyle Structural Reform', "lighter evenings could, in the long-term, reduce bag theft by up to 10 percent."

Con - The California Energy Commission published a report, 'The Effect of Early Daylight Saving Time on California Electricity Consumption: A Statistical Analysis'. According to the report, the extension of daylight saving time in March 2007 had little or no effect on energy consumption in California.

No studies have been conducted to prove the heated rhetoric caused by DST discussions that could possibly increase global warming by .1658%

Wise words indeed!

Driest and Wettest

Parts of Antarctica have had no rain for two million years, so it is considered the driest place on earth.

A desert is technically defined as a place that receives less than 254 mm (10 inches) of rain a year. The Sahara desert gets just 25 mm (1 inch) of rain a year. Antarctica’s average annual rainfall is about the same, but 2 per cent of it, known as the Dry Valleys, is free of ice and snow and it never rains there at all.

Antarctica can also claim to be the wettest, since seventy per cent of the world’s fresh water is found there in the form of ice.

The next-driest place in the world is the Atacama Desert in Chile. In some areas, no rain has fallen there for 400 years and its average annual rainfall is 0.1 mm (0.004 inches).