A aerial view taken in Jan. 2021 and issued on Friday July 26, 2021 by the British Antarctic Survey showing a massive crack in the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. A huge iceberg the size of the English county of Bedfordshire has broken off the 150-m thick Brunt Ice Shelf, almost a decade after scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) first detected growth of vast cracks in the ice.(British Antarctic Survey via AP)
A huge iceberg, the size of the UK county of Bedfordshire, has broken off the Brunt Ice Shelf.
The phenomenon is known as calving and comes almost a decade after scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) first detected the growth of vast cracks in the ice.
The first indication that a calving event was imminent came in November 2020 when a new chasm – named North Rift – headed towards another large chasm near the Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue 35 km (21.7 miles) away.
It's the third major crack in the ice shelf that's become active in the last ten years.
During January, the rift pushed northeast at up to 1 km(0.62 miles) per day, cutting through the 150 meters (492 feet) thick floating ice shelf.
The iceberg was formed when the crack widened several hundred meters in a few hours on the morning of 26th February, finally breaking free from the rest of the floating ice shelf.
The calving is not expected to pose a threat to BAS's Halley Research Station which is located on the Brunt ice shelf.
President Biden's self-imposed deadline of making booster vaccines available for all Americans is today, but with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only approving the boosters for senior citizens, it doesn't look like he can make that deadline. The nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci defended both positions, saying that the deadline was more of a placeholder and that he also stands by the FDA's decision.
Dr. Jen Caudle, family physician and associate professor at Rowan University, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more on the booster shot and Pfizer's vaccine for young kids.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
Gas prices are expected to rise ahead of Labor Day weekend, with millions of people hitting the road and Hurricane Ida disrupting the nation's oil and gas industries. Chris Williams, CEO of CW Petroleum Corp, joined Cheddar to discuss the rise and fall of gas prices, plus what his company plans to do to adapt to the uptick in electric vehicles.
