Iceberg Collapse

In contrast to my last post about climate change, CNN.com is providing fairly in-depth coverage of another global warming indicator about as far away from New England as one can get and still be on Earth– the collapse of an Antarctic ice chunk.

The collapse covered 220 square miles of ice and leaves another massive ice shelf approximately seven times the size of Manhattan in danger of collapsing, according to the article. While this is a story worth discussing in itself, I want to devote this entry to examining how CNN.com is covering the collapse, as it is one of the better environmental online packages I have seen.

In addition to two print stories (here and here), the Web site provides a link to raw video of aerial shots from the British Antarctic Survey. This video gives a great perspective of the volume of ice impacted and presents tangible evidence of climate change that readers can grasp.

They also include a graphic showing where the Wilkins Ice Shelf (where the collapse occurred) is located on Antarctica (it is near the South American side of the continent). And, to really hammer home the magnitude of the collapse, CNN.com published a series of satellite photos accompanied by explanatory text showing the progression of the collapse, which was first noticed when a large chunk broke away on Feb. 28.

Besides the typical links to related topics and articles, CNN.com implemented one other interesting online feature – they provided links to external blogs that had linked to the article. This is a great way to supply a multitude of additional resources for those interested in further study on the topic. And, the external bloggers are more likely to link to CNN.com content once they realize their blog is publicized on CNN’s site, leading to more exposure for CNN.

So, whether a reader wanted a quick glimpse at what happened in Antarctica or a more in-depth study of the issue, he or she could find it through the CNN.com platform for this story. And that approach is an excellent way to enhance exposure on the impacts of climate change.