GLACIERS AND ICEBERGS

For the past 24 hours we've been passing by icebergs and glaciers.  If you love snowy mountains, bitter cold and the splendor of winter in May, you'd want to be on the Oceania Riviera cruising by the coastline of Alaska.

To recap, woke up after sleeping for 13 hours to see these scenes from our veranda.

We had never before seen people on the deck below us, but I guess for the Hubbard Glacial watch, the doors to this front portion of the ship was opened.  Went down for an Italian lunch plus beef, with Peroni Beer and a Chianti.

Returned to our room for the rest of the glacial show.....for now.

A small iceberg.

What do you know about glaciers and icebergs.  I'll start with the former.

• A glacier is a persistent body of ice that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight.  A typical speed is around 3 feet per day, although the Greenland Jacobshavn Isbtae moves as fast as 100 feet/day.  Surges can be as fast as 300 feet/day.   

• 
  Glaciers form when snow accumulates over a very long time, like centuries.  
• More than 7,000 glaciers are found on every continent, except for Australia.
• Can you believe that Pakistan has more glacial ice than any country outside the polar regions?
• 98% of Antarctica is covered with glaciers.

• 
  Glaciers cover 10% of Earth's land surface.
• Glacial ice is 69% of all fresh water.
• Why do glacier look blue?  Because the water molecules absorb other colors more efficiently than blue.  Also, the lack of water bubbles helps.

• 
  There is such a thing as a glacial earthquake.  Up to 6.1 magnitude.  In Greenland, these earthquakes are occurring with higher frequency.
• Human activities in the industrial era have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the air, causing current global warming.^[77] Human influence is the principal driver of changes to the cryosphere of which glaciers are a part.^[77] 
• If all the ice melted, the sea level would rise by 230 feet.  From the USGA:

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred about 18,000 to 20,000 years ago, during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. At that time, global sea level was more than 400 feet lower than it is today, and glaciers covered approximately:

• 8% of Earth’s surface
• 25% of Earth’s land area
• 33% of Alaska

Beginning about 15,000 years ago, continental glaciers retreated and sea level began to rise. Sea level reached its current height about 8,000 years ago and has fluctuated ever since.

Today, glaciers cover approximately:

• 3% of Earth’s surface
• 11% of Earth’s land area
• 5% of Alaska.

• 
  Sea levels along U.S. coastlines are projected to rise by an avderage of 10-12 inches by 2050, although the max could be 18 inches in the Gulf Coast and 14 inches on the East Coast.

• 
  All the glaciers we'll see on this cruise will be on Alaska.  Some fun facts.
• There are more than 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, covering 5% of the state.
• The largest is the Bering Glacier, about 5000 square miles, larger than Rhode Island.
• Below is the Matanuska Glacier near Anchorage.

• Antarctica's Doomsday Glacier isn't as vulnerable to collapse as we thought.  The Thwaites Glacier is bigger than Florida.  Just by itself, this glacier, if it melts into the sea, will raise the sea level by 2 feet.  However, this doomsday event will remain stable until at least 2100.

Icebergs:

• Is a piece of frozen freshwater more than 48 feet long.
• These are pieces of ice that broke off a glacier or ice shelf.
• Typically, one-tenth of the volume is above water.
• Smaller chunks are called growlers or bergy bits.
• The largest is recent history is named B-15, and was 186 miles by 25 miles in 2000.  4200 square miles, or slightly smaller than Connecticut. 
• But the absolute biggest in 1956 was 208 miles by 60 miles, larger than Belgium.
• Some icebergs have been recorded at viewable height of more than 300 feet.

• 
  The iceberg that sank the Titanic was likely 200-400 feet long, showing 50 to 100 feet tall.
• Iceberg colors can range from white to green, blue, yellow, black, striped or even rainbow hued.

Went to Adam Tanner' talk on Films of Alaska.

Dinner tonight in the Terrace Cafe buffet.  Looks like I've settled on Raymond Chardonnay and Wente Cabernet Sauvignon as the best white/red combo.

The night ended in Horizons with the Four Corners band playing Beatles music.

Walked 2983 steps today.

Tomorrow, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

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