Stuck in the Antarctic – More Global Warming Ironies

I guess the ice hasn’t completely gone from the Antarctic yet… maybe if we sell a few more SUVs it will?

A Russian icebreaker carrying over 100 tourists, scientists and journalists on a cruise around Antarctica was struggling to free itself from sea ice but was not in any danger, a shipping company said Tuesday.

The Captain Khlebnikov icebreaker is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from clear water near Snow Hill Island in the Weddell Sea, German Kuzin of the Fareastern Shipping Company told Russia’s Vesti 24 television. He said neither the ship nor the passengers faced any risks.

The ship was trying to move slowly through the ice but the winds were too light to break up the ice pack, he said. An Argentine official said the ice would delay the ship’s return by three to six days.

“The icebreaker is trying to move and is waiting for more favorable winds,” Kuzin said. “After the winds get stronger, the ice grip will weaken … and it will break free.”

Reibel said the ship’s return has been delayed from Nov. 16 to sometime between Nov. 19-21.

A spokesman for the Met Office, Britain’s weather service, said stations along the Weddell Sea reported temperatures ranging between -7 and -11 degrees Celsius (19 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit) at 1200 GMT Tuesday (7 a.m. EST).

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