Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/13/enjoy-this-video-featuring-an.html
…
7 Likes
That’s pretty darn cool!
6 Likes
Со щитом или на щите!
Go BIG or go home!
8 Likes
Bah! That’s not large. They build nuclear icebreakers, but WE just eliminate polar ice altogether.
10 Likes
wouldn’t it be cool if we all focused our efforts into things like this. That is one amazing piece of hardware.
1 Like
Yet another aspect of our current life that will lose to Climate Change.
4 Likes
I don’t know if this is a baseless fear or not. I haven’t seen any articles or discussions on this, so I don’t know if this is baseless conjecture or not.
Does anyone know about the environmental effects of ice breaking?
It seems like it would probably have a profound change for marine life, since it opens the oceans up to a lot more air, and it provides more access to the ocean beneath the ice for different animals.
It also feels like it may cause problems from a physics perspective, since it would increase surface area of the ice pack and it would probably lead to melting, I’d think it would also allow the ice chunks to move more. I know that ice reflects sunlight and water tends to absorb it, so having open patches between the ice might increase the water temperatures too (leading to more ice loss).
I know that most of the problems with the Arctic and Antartic de-icing are related to global warming, but I’m wondering if the increased use of icebreakers in the Artic areas is contributing?
Again, I don’t know if any of these are valid concerns or if anyone has studied it; if anyone knows more, I’d love to know more about this.
1 Like
There are a lot of analysts who see the development and use of new icebreakers to be part of Russia’s goals to militarize the Arctic. In conjunction with this they are opening and expanding military bases in the region and running more exercises. They may have more benign or economic reasons, but we are talking about Putin and Russia.
4 Likes
Good questions - I hope someone with more knowledge replies
1 Like
Heart breaker, dream maker. This song should have had icebreaker in there somewhere.
5 Likes
Brubaker, run this prison like a man
2 Likes
I think we can definitely expect a lot of discussion about the Northwest Passage in the coming decades, when it becomes a real, viable channel for trade. I think some of that discussion will be with military people.
4 Likes
“Don’t mind me, just destroying everything in my path.”
2 Likes
I’d hate to be the guy who has to rappel down the bow and repair all those scratches with those tiny touch-up paint brushes…
3 Likes
2 Likes
Anyone have, or know of, any info on what role these kinds of ships play in the (unintentional) breaking up of larger ice sheets, if any? Has any study been done on this sort of thing? My thinking is: disturbing water creates waves (duh), and as they become more and more frequent with more and more arctic activity, the energy they produce has to wind up somewhere. Presumably the wave energy is primarily absorbed by the ice closest to the energy source, but it is a bed of water under there, after all. Meaning, the wave energy may have the potential to travel fairly long distances. So, do these sorts of large ships ever contribute to the break up of huge masses of arctic ice?
1 Like
There hasn’t been a really good study, but a study from the coast guard and estimates from the National Snow and Ice center both say the results are negligible. https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/icelights/2012/04/are-icebreakers-changing-climate https://www.arctictoday.com/coast-guard-evaluates-environmental-effects-new-icebreakers/ Locally from my experience there is slightly faster melting near areas where the ice breaker went, but not by any amount that is much more noticeable than regular variation.
4 Likes
This is my favorite icebreaker video, ten hours of this ship idling, the hum of the diesel engine, the crunch of ice…
And if ten hours isn’t enough, here it is again for another ten.
2 Likes
moortaktheundea posted a link indicating that the effect is negligible, and a comment here suggests that the ice re-freezes pretty quickly after a breaker has gone through. However, this article suggests that anti-fouling paint from icebreakers and other vessels is affecting marine animals.
3 Likes
Enjoy this video featuring an enormous, nuclear-powered icebreaker
There isn’t a part of that sentence I don’t love.
2 Likes
