UKC

This is a little bit more than just glacial 'plasticity'. For anyone who hasn't already seen it https://www.facebook.com/Upworthy/videos/1129518747088982/

In reply to llechwedd:

Magnificent. And a bit sad

In reply to llechwedd:

Maybe it's global warming, but to me it looks like it's caused by the giant whale that you see from 1:52.

Similar footage in Chasing Ice. If you haven't seen it, find a copy and watch it. 100% recommended. It's quite sad to watch, but there are some positives in it.

In reply to pneame:


Why? Glaciers calve naturally as the ice meets the sea, often to a greater extent when there is glacial advance.

I love how these 'dramatic' videos are used to awe people with regards to the climate debate with absolute disregard for the science. Calving happens regardless of climate, if the tensile stress of ice flowing on water is exceeded (a bit like dunking ya hobnob for too long). Boring satellite images and time lapses of glacial retreat however are far more scary. But the masses don't want to see that.

Sad would be when there is no more calving and its retreated back on land...

In reply to llechwedd:
Maybe the Magnificent bit was the calving part of the video, and the bit sad bit was the slow boring diagram of glacial retreat at the end of the video?

In reply to JuneBob:

I guess so, I clearly only watched the interesting bit