Icebergs looking for summer holidays near Australia? As if it wasn't hot enough in Antarctica right now...

13th November 2009

We got back from the World Travel Mart this morning to discover that, while we rushing about like madmen, an iceberg had been calmly making its way north for a summer holiday near Oz! Looks like a loud and timely call from the ice caps that we need to get our act in gear. The iceberg, 50 metres high and 500 metres long, was first seen last Thursday 5 miles of the coast of Macquarie Island, which itself is 930 miles south-east of Tasmania. Ok, so it is not that close to Australia (just yet), but that is much closer than it should be. Scientists reckon it probably broke away from the Ross ice shelf between 2000 and 2002, and has been making its steady way north on ocean currents ever since. What an incredible symbol of the tragic state the icecaps are in. Way up north, recent reports from the Catlin Arctic Survey, headed up by explorer Pen Hadow, have provided more evidence that arctic sea ice is thinning. They think that the ocean may be largely ice free in summer within a decade. How many more crys for help from the natural world will we leave unanswered? Perhaps we need icebergs drifting up the Thames and towards New York before we start to take real action.

Return to all news

Search for active holidays and accommodation