We all know there's ice in Lake Michigan in the winter, but an e-mail circulating the Interwebs is claiming that massive icebergs with odd stripe formations are being spotted in the big lake this winter:
"Icebergs in Lake Michigan:
The photos are also often accompanied by another chain e-mail claiming photos of waves "freezing as they break," resulting in wild-looking ice formations:
And there are others. As is typically the case with photos that look too good to be true, they are. There's no way these are "Lake Michigan Icebergs." The photos are actually from waters near Antarctica and the continent itself, according to the urban legend site Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/stripedicebergs.asp
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/antarcticwave.asp
In this case, the e-mail is actually a couple of years old and went around in 2008 as well. Another issue is that the e-mail claims that we're seeing "the coldest winter in decades." In reality, temperatures have been above average for Grand Rapids since December 1st, and well above average through the month of January.
Snopes is a great site... I check out every chain e-mail I get before passing it on. Don't want bad information out there!
-JS
"Icebergs in Lake Michigan:
Did someone say something about "Global Warming"??
Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet
fills up with melt water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.
When an iceberg falls into the lake, a layer of water can
freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a
green stripe.
Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up
when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the lake.
The photos are also often accompanied by another chain e-mail claiming photos of waves "freezing as they break," resulting in wild-looking ice formations:
And there are others. As is typically the case with photos that look too good to be true, they are. There's no way these are "Lake Michigan Icebergs." The photos are actually from waters near Antarctica and the continent itself, according to the urban legend site Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/stripedicebergs.asp
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/antarcticwave.asp
In this case, the e-mail is actually a couple of years old and went around in 2008 as well. Another issue is that the e-mail claims that we're seeing "the coldest winter in decades." In reality, temperatures have been above average for Grand Rapids since December 1st, and well above average through the month of January.
Snopes is a great site... I check out every chain e-mail I get before passing it on. Don't want bad information out there!
-JS
We all know there's ice in Lake Michigan in the winter, but an e-mail circulating the Interwebs is claiming that massive icebergs with odd stripe formations are being spotted in the big lake this winter:
"Icebergs in Lake Michigan:
"Icebergs in Lake Michigan:
Did someone say something about "Global Warming"??
Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet
fills up with melt water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.
When an iceberg falls into the lake, a layer of water can
freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a
green stripe.
Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up
when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the lake.
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