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)
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. |