This handout photo provided by the Universite Laval shows Universite Laval Technician Dennis Sarrazin standing next to the new ice island, the Ayles ice shelf, offshore, in the Arctic Ocean, on May 30, 2006. (AP PHOTO/Universite Laval, Warwick Vincent, HO)
By ROB GILLIES
TORONTO Dec 29, 2006 (AP) A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said Thursday, citing climate change as a "major" reason for the event. The Ayles Ice Shelf all 41 square miles of it broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic.
Scientists discovered the event by using satellite imagery. Within one hour of breaking free, the shelf had formed as a new ice island, leaving a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake.
Warwick Vincent of Laval University, who studies Arctic conditions, traveled to the newly formed ice island and couldn't believe what he saw.
"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years," Vincent said. "We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead."
The ice shelf was one of six major shelves remaining in Canada's Arctic. They are packed with ancient ice that is more than 3,000 years old. They float on the sea but are connected to land.
Some scientists say it is the largest event of its kind in Canada in 30 years and that climate change was a major element.
"It is consistent with climate change," Vincent said, adding that the remaining ice shelves are 90 percent smaller than when they were first discovered in 1906. "We aren't able to connect all of the dots … but unusually warm temperatures definitely played a major role."
Laurie Weir, who monitors ice conditions for the Canadian Ice Service, was poring over satellite images in 2005 when she noticed that the shelf had split and separated.
Weir notified Luke Copland, head of the new global ice lab at the University of Ottawa, who initiated an effort to find out what happened.
Using U.S. and Canadian satellite images, as well as seismic data the event registered on earthquake monitors 155 miles away Copland discovered that the ice shelf collapsed in the early afternoon of Aug. 13, 2005.
The Ayles ice shelf, which is more than 11,000 football fields in size and is located just south of the North Pole, has broken free in the Canadian Arctic. Scientists say that global warming has played a "major" role in the break.

The entire 41 square miles of the shelf broke away from Ellesmere Island at least 16 months ago, and the break was discovered when a satellite took pictures of the region recently.

"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years. We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead," said Warwick Vincent, a Laval University scientist who studies conditions in the Arctic.

Higher temperatures are believed to have played a significant role in the break, and all 6 shelves in the Canadian Arctic have become at least 90% smaller since they were discovered in the early 1900's.

"It the break is consistent with climate change. We aren't able to connect all of the dots, but unusually warm temperatures definitely played a major role," added Vincent.

Seismographs detected the break and collapse of the shelf in August of 2005. The short amount of time it took for the event to occur has come as a surprise to scientists.

"What surprised us was how quickly it happened. Even 10 years ago scientists assumed that when global warming changes occur that it would happen gradually, so that perhaps we expected these ice shelves just to melt away quite slowly. It's pretty alarming," said head of the University of Ottawa's global ice lab, Luke Copland.