So What Does It Mean?

A big chunk of ice broke off an ice shelf in Antarctica creating the biggest ice berg ever measured.  That "biggest ever" title sounds more impressive than it is.  We haven't been able to measure these ice bergs for very long.  One hundred years ago, we only knew about new ice bergs when they floated into waters where shipping was passing.  That could be years after the berg was formed and long after it started to melt.  Nevertheless, the media breathlessly reported that a huge ice berg had been formed.  The initial reports came with commentary from various government officials who deal with weather/climate and other scientists who all said that the formation of the ice berg was normal and unrelated to man-made global warming.

That, however, was a few days ago, before the media got involved.  Today, the new ice berg is a "hint of impending disaster" according to the New York Times.  Other media outlets see the ice berg as proof of man made global warming (although they never say how the one proves the other.)  It's ridiculous.  Ice bergs are nothing new.  They are the end points of polar glaciers.  The ice flow hits the sea and eventually breaks off to form an ice berg. 

If it were up to these media fools, there would be a remake of "Titanic" in which the hero is a climate scientist done in by the ice berg whose creation he failed to prevent.  By the way, if that movie gets made, I want royalties for the idea.