Trouble in the Canadian Arctic

Enormous sheets of ice totaling almost eight square miles broke off an ice shelf last week. The ice broke away from the shelf on Ward Hunt Island, which is just off Ellesmere Island in one of the northernmost parts of the country. It was the largest fracture of its kind in three years, since the Ayles ice shelf (25 square miles) broke away. The Ward Hunt shelf is one of five along Ellesmere Island. The Canadian Ice Service believes that more could break off this summer before the freeze. Once upon a time, the ice shelf totalled around 3,500 square miles. Today the five shelves cover just under 400 square miles.