Althouse: In Iceland, a glacier calves, tourists run.

April 2, 2019

In Iceland, a glacier calves, tourists run.

It's amusing and scenic and normal and no one is hurt (or even gets wet):

32 comments:

Lucid-Ideas said...: Most people are clueless, but in every crowd you can be pretty sure that there's at least one person who 'knows what's up' and starts running.

Be like that person and do the same.; 4/2/19, 8:20 AM
Wince said...: Althouse once again downplaying an extinction event.

More calves, more cows, more extinction?

I'm confused: rather than cows causing global warming, does this show global warming causes calves?; 4/2/19, 8:22 AM
MikeR said...: Not the least bit amusing. Good that they ran. They knew - they were terrified. If the calving had been a little bit bigger, the tsunami would have been a little bit higher. They could have all been killed.; 4/2/19, 8:24 AM
JZ said...: How lucky to witness such a thing and have it recorded. I have a photo of something that happened to us on a much smaller scale. I look at that photo regularly and smile.; 4/2/19, 8:27 AM
rehajm said...: RUN AWAY!!!; 4/2/19, 8:28 AM
rehajm said...: Extra meaning of 'Terminal Moraine'.; 4/2/19, 8:30 AM
Tank said...: Best moment of Hellboy: “You should be running.”; 4/2/19, 8:38 AM
Drago said...: I blame Trump.

And Barr.

But especially Barr and Trump!!

Signed: Every lefty/LLR-lefty EVER!; 4/2/19, 8:42 AM
Fernandinande said...: Have a Safe Journey

Iceland is one of the whitest countries in the world, so the crime rate is extremely low and medical care is excellent. However, natural hazards caused by weather and nature often confront strong independent women traveling alone because they're prostitutes.; 4/2/19, 8:43 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It's amusing because there's nothing dire about this glacier shedding ice. It doesn't have special apocalyptic "climate change" meaning.

The danger the humans faced was something they chose to experience, and it was within a range that wasn't particularly dangerous. They scurried and they were fine.

So we're free to enjoy the vivid video of the force of nature. It was a lovely and interesting sequence.

It's sourpussy not to be amused.; 4/2/19, 8:50 AM
AllenS said...: More proof of global warming.; 4/2/19, 9:02 AM
michaele said...: Glad someone got the herd running...just for safety's sake.; 4/2/19, 9:05 AM
Michael K said...: A glacier in Greenland is growing,. Not the only one.; 4/2/19, 9:09 AM
Bob Boyd said...: "Glad someone got the herd running...just for safety's sake."

I imagine they were probably briefed on this possibility by their guides beforehand.; 4/2/19, 9:11 AM
rehajm said...: sourpussy

Worst. Bond Girl. Ever.; 4/2/19, 9:24 AM
AlbertAnonymous said...: At first, looking at the giant glacier, I thought the video was showing proof of Global Cooling. Then the calving, so I thought it was proof of Global Warming. Then when the tsunami started I realized it was proof of the disasterous effects Climate Change. But when I saw all the people running, it hit me. This is proof of Climate Chaos.

Professor, you should run for Congress. You could be the next AOC. Wait, maybe with this video proof, you could be the next Al Gore!

Run Ann Run!; 4/2/19, 9:32 AM
Seeing Red said...: Bravo Albert!; 4/2/19, 9:35 AM
Earnest Prole said...: It’s amusing and scenic and normal, except that a larger icefall and water displacement would have killed them all.; 4/2/19, 9:36 AM
Howard said...: Amusement here is female privilege. Lack of understanding physics and statistics usually expresses itself with laughter. As MikeR said, lucky the tsunami was not bigger. Flatlanders drown regularly on the Rocky coasts because no one expects the sleeper wave; 4/2/19, 9:36 AM
bagoh20 said...: Do eskimos surf?; 4/2/19, 9:38 AM
bagoh20 said...: Maybe "eskimos" isn't the politically correct term. People of blubber?; 4/2/19, 9:50 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "As MikeR said, lucky the tsunami was not bigger."

Good God, how can you ever enjoy life? Each day is a miracle, full of near misses. But that COULD have been a heart attack. That truck COULD have hit you. You should hunker down and quiver at all the the thought of the things that could hit you, and if you do, I will laugh.; 4/2/19, 9:54 AM
Owen said...: Eskimo —> Inuit. Which means “those who run.”; 4/2/19, 9:58 AM
n.n said...: Life is an exercise in risk management.; 4/2/19, 10:04 AM
bagoh20 said...: Are you Inuit?

I don't know, I never tried it.; 4/2/19, 10:28 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Ida Sourpussy would be a great Bond girl name!; 4/2/19, 11:43 AM
Earnest Prole said...: Good God, Dad, why are you so uptight about me walking around town after midnight in my miniskirt? Why can’t you just let me enjoy life?; 4/2/19, 12:10 PM
Earnest Prole said...: The tallest tsunami of all time, more than a quarter of a mile high, occurred not in the open ocean but when rocks fell into an enclosed bay much like this.; 4/2/19, 12:17 PM
eddie willers said...: Each day is a miracle, full of near misses.

A near miss would, of course, be a disaster because it did not miss.

A near hit should be the term.; 4/2/19, 1:22 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Good God, Dad, why are you so uptight about me walking around town after midnight in my miniskirt? Why can’t you just let me enjoy life?"

Bad analogy. I'm enjoying the video and being relatively unsympathetic to the people who chose to go out onto those rocks across the bay from the calving glacier. I was never in the position of advising them about whether that was a good place to go out and spectate.

For the record,I grew up hearing about the Texas City disaster which my parents lived through. People went down to a burning ship and must have thought they were at an acceptable spectating distance. The ship blew up and hundreds died.

So I have always been cautious about the temptation to spectate, and this glacier video teaches a good lesson about how far away you ought to stand. The too-close spectators got some harmless pushback.; 4/2/19, 1:22 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Bad analogy.

Analogy? I’m merely transcribing verbatim the conversation that until recently I had every weekend with my youngest daughter ;)

My grandmother told me that when San Franciscans heard the news of Pearl Harbor, thousands gathered at Ocean Beach to witness a possible attack on the Mainland.; 4/2/19, 3:00 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Everybody has their own comfort level when it comes to perceived risk. Its like the old George Carlin joke,
"Did you ever notice everyone who drives slower than you is an idiot and everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac?"; 4/2/19, 5:04 PM