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Finally, a case where environmentalists and climate change skeptics can agree that human activity is to blame for retreating glaciers. Chilean authorities have charged a man with transporting 11,453 pounds of ice stolen from a glacier in the country's Bernardo O'Higgins national park. The chunks of ancient ice were allegedly bound for sale in the capital city, Santiago. Here, a brief guide to this chilling caper:
The man who stole a glacier... to make cocktails? - The Week
Seeded on Mon Feb 6, 2012 8:22 AM EST
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Why would people want ice from a glacier?
The man was allegedly part of a group planning to sell the ice to trendy bars and restaurants hoping to offer their customers cocktails chilled with designer ice cubes straight from the Chilean Patagonia region's Jorge Montt glacier. Apparently, glacier ice in drinks is considered a luxury, says Sara Miller Llana in The Christian Science Monitor, although our Santiago correspondent has never seen it marketed in bars. "Apart from being illegal, it would likely be as shunned, at least among the environmental set, as fur coats."
Seriously? Designer glacier ice cubes? ..An illegal gimmick to raise the price of the drinks.
- 2 votes
#1 - Mon Feb 6, 2012 8:24 AM ESTA thought that came to me is the possibility that they would be inadvertently releasing ancient microbes into the drinks, and eventually into the environment. It's stated that the same bacteria that were here over four billion years ago... are still here in the glaciers.
- 1 vote
#3 - Mon Feb 6, 2012 4:55 PM ESTHi CL1,
Is this a subset of Stupid Human Tricks?
Actually, I think this is more in line with just how desperate people are...
I wonder why anyone would buy glacier ice mixed drinks, and pay a premium for the ice? I mean how would a person know if it's glacier ice, or just from an ice block made in the bar refrigerator?
I will share this though, forty years ago when I was fourteen, I went on a hike into the Cascade Mountains above Lake Chelan. We hiked to about a quarter mile from a glacier hanging on the side of a mountain, and there was a stream from the runoff, that broke through the snow and ice at our feet. Because, we were so high in the mountains we could drink the water untreated right out of the stream, I have never tasted water so good in all my life, and I've never had water that good since. No one in my group ever got sick from that water... Oh, by the way the water was also very, very cold.
Thanks, Master Link
- 1 vote
#4 - Mon Feb 6, 2012 11:27 PM ESTHi ML..
I know, it's so hard to believe anyone would do something like this, most likely thinking they've come up with some money-making scheme. I know when I went to Mexico, I had trouble with Montezuma's Revenge, despite my cautious attempts with everything 'water.' ..But, I did allow exposure to a few ice cubes in drinks. Perhaps this glacier ice idea spawned from some of that reasoning--I don't know; but the article implies more of an elitism, than a safety issue. I, too, have drunk mountain stream water (in my twenties), and did not get sick. I have read more than one article on the ancient microbes that have been discovered, but nothing about anyone ingesting them. Perhaps they are at a certain depth, in a specific environment that would trap the perfect conditions to maintain life. They eat their dead for food.
- 1 vote
Hi again,
I'm thinking that consuming glacier ice is an ancient practice of the elites...
I'm sure you are aware that just a little money goes a long way in many countries... and desperate people will do just about anything to feed their families...
As far as microbes in the ice that may be a danger? - Who knows? - The idea of something from the past causing the end of people or something along those lines... It's something we should be careful of, but... heck there is so much to be concerned about... this may not be one of my concerns...
I don't know that I think we would see an 'end all' scenario; possibly some deaths, like we do now due to varying immune-response with pathogenic bacteria.
- 1 vote
Hi CL1,
I think my Sci-Fi hat got stuck on, and my imagination took over, sorry.
We’ve all seen the core samples taken from ice at the poles, and from deep in the ocean…
I’ve always wondered if digging around like that is a good idea…
I hope we never have to find out the hard way…
- 1 vote
Lol, I actually started writing an attempted novel with this notion as the basis! I was spurred by two things: having read the scientific reports, and the other being a neighbor's retired father died while on an extended (months) trip to China. The autopsy revealed an internal parasite, not a bacteria as we're discussing, but as you say... the imagination takes over... :)
Take care.
- 2 votes
Hey CL1,
I am also interested in writing... and, at the moment I'm reading a book as an assignment...
Called, Floating in my mother's palm... by Ursula Hegi...
As explained to the class, this series of short stories was written as a way for Ursula to gain experience as a new writer. So far all of the stories are interlaced, I haven't read the entire book yet... I'm afraid if I get too far ahead I may forget some of the important points for discussion the next day...
Hegi was afraid that she didn't have it in her to write a full novel...I find this idea appealing... interlacing short stories that is... she went on to write several novels...
I've never really been fond of short story collections... but this book is changing my perspective as a writer.
Thanks, Master Link
- 1 vote
Interlacing several short stories sounds like a great idea, ML. It would seem to be great practice for developing a series of books along the same theme, topic or subject.
Discovering one's genre and writing-style is one thing; finding an audience is quite another. All things considered, writing is certainly not an easy task, no matter how much we enjoy it.
- 2 votes
True CL1, but now that I started to look... it seems every where I look, I'm surrounded by writers...
They may not be particularly well known, to the public in general... but they are published somewhere...
It seems now is the time to write, and publish... even if it is only you... self publishing, something that is easier than ever before.
- 1 vote
Yes, nearly everyone I encounter is a writer.. here, anyway.
Good luck to you if you pursue a project of some type!
- 2 votes
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