Sea ice limits

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Why should we care?

Changes in sea ice could effect our lives in many ways.

Every year sea ice forms in Atlantic Canada reaching maximum extent in February and March. The ice is often piled up at the coast by wind and tide, sometimes causing damage to wharves and buildings.

(Photograph by D.L. Forbes. GSC 2001-008)

With global climate change, sea ice may become thinner and less extensive.

(Photograph courtesy of F. Zemlyak, Ocaen Circulation, B.I.O.)

Sea ice restricts shipping necessitating the use of icebreakers with strengthened bows.

In the future, the shipping season could be lengthened, and ice breakers may be no longer necessary in some regions.

However, if there is less sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, beaches would be exposed to winter storm waves more often than today, increasing coastal erosion and storm damage to man-made structures.

Iceberg limits

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The icebergs drift south in the Labrador Current, and melt in warmer waters near the southern edge of the Grand Banks. In the future the southern limit may move farther north.

The iceberg factory! Ice from glaciers in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic drifts south in ocean currents. The supply of ice may remain constant with global change.

(Photograph by J. Shaw (GSC 2001-011))

Since the SS Titanic sank in 1912, collisions with icebergs have seldom occurred, primarily because, since the 1940s ships have been equipped with radar.

(Source : Painting by J. Shaw)

(Photograph courtesy of Hibernia Management & Development Company)

Oil production platforms need expensive engineering to deal with icebergs. With fewer icebergs, there would be less risk of one hitting an oil platform. This could reduce development costs on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Why are icebergs made of fresh water?